While Hollywood seems to be revisiting the idea that English = good choice for a villain, it’s good to see that studios are also continuing to pluck British (and Irish) comedy talent for big movies. Hence Matt Lucas and The IT Crowd’s Chris O’Dowd signing on to Kristen Wiig’s new comedy **Bridesmaids.
Lucas, of course, is still best known for Little Britain, but has been cropping up in films for a while now, most recently in Alice in Wonderland. O’Dowd, meanwhile, has more suddenly become in demand for bigger roles, and he’ll be seen this year in both Dinner for Schmucks and Gulliver’s Travels.
Co-written by Wiig and Annie Mumolo and produced by comedy titan Judd Apatow, Bridesmaids finds the SNL regular as a maid of honour who discovers that she’s suddenly got to compete for the role with the other friends at her mate’s wedding. Cue a massive rivalry as the ladies try to one-up one another.
Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Dianne Wiest and Jon Hamm are also all aboard, and the new cast members include Ellie Kemper, Jill Clayburgh, Melissa McCarthy and Wendi McLendon-Covey.
While we have horrid visions of previous wedding comedies like Bride Wars dancing through our heads, we’re still hopeful that the talent involved (including director Paul Feig) will make this one work a little harder.
**Bridesmaids **will walk down the (cinema) aisle on May 13 next year.