Any day that brings news of a new Adam McKay/Will Ferrell movie is a good day – so by default Monday, September 14, 2009 is already a belter.
For today The Other Guys – the new cop comedy from the duo who brought us Step Brothers, **Talladega Nights **and, most important of all, Anchorman – added three new faces to its cast.
Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton and Damon Wayans Jr. (the son of an actor whose name escapes us for the time being) have signed on to the comedy, which stars Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as two desk jockey cops who finally get a taste of some sweet, sweet action. We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again – we’re hoping for an American Hot Fuzz, shot through with McKay and Ferrell’s streak of surreal anarchy.
There’s no word yet on who the new trio will be playing, but it’s interesting to see that McKay, the writing/directing half of the duo, is moving further afield from his usual repertory company. And good choices they all are, too – Keaton can bring the funny, as we all know, Mendes was more than fine in the likes of **Stuck On You **and Hitch, while Wayans Jr. has hopefully inherited his father’s funnybone. It’s hard to tell from the likes of Dance Flick, but fingers crossed.
Oh, and if you’re convinced that** The Other Guys** is a new title for the movie, don’t be alarmed: it is. The movie, which McKay co-wrote with Chris Henchy (Ferrell will be ad-libbing like a maniac, but wasn’t involved with the screenplay this time around), was first known as The B Team, but that was presumably changed to avoid confusion and comparisons with next summer’s The A-Team.