You may not have noticed, but DreamWorks has been quietly building a nice little collection of spec comedy scripts for a while now, and today they added to their haul by picking up Justin Adler’s The Escort.
The script revolves around an irresponsible flight attendant, it says here, who must accompany a fourteen year-old passenger across country to Boston when their flight is grounded.
Very John Hughes – and if the script is anywhere near as funny as Planes, Trains & Automobiles, we won’t complain.
Adler has a decent comedy background, too – he’s been a writer and producer on sitcoms like Samantha Who?, Better Off Ted and Futurama, so clearly he knows where the funnybone is located. Much depends, of course, on the teenager character and the tone of the film – is Adler going for raucous R-rated hijinks, or a tsunami of schmaltz?
Anyway, the film is the latest on DreamWorks’ comedy pile, along with the likes of Forever 21, in which Elizabeth Banks will star, Substitute Husband and Cal Of The Wild. Let’s hope there’s at least one winner amongst that little lot.
**The Escort **will be produced by Tom McNulty, who also produced the upcoming Date Night.