He can act. He can sing. He can dance. He can defeat giant insects with the power of his brain.* Is there anything Neil Patrick Harris can’t do? Cross another possibility off the list, though – he’s directing his first movie.
The once and future Dr Horrible has dabbled with directing before, both in the theatre (he staged a version of Rent this summer in LA) and on the small screen (he’s stepped behind the camera for one episode of the sitcom he co-stars in, How I Met Your Mother), but this is a jump to the big leagues.
His assignment? Aaron and Sarah, an indie romantic comedy that follows a geek and a popular girl through their high school years as their relationship grows from awkward beginnings through to love around graduation. Chad Gomez Creasey and Dara Resnik Creasey have written the script, which was nabbed a few years ago by Rogue Pictures when it was still titled B.F.F.
Since then, the project has been through turnaround, was rescued by Fox 2000 and saw both David O Russell and Joe Nussbaum flirting with the idea of directing it.
Now it’s Harris’ baby, and he’ll be directing Scream 4’s Emma Roberts and Journey to the Centre of the Earth’s Josh Hutcherson as the leads.
There’s no exact word on when it’ll shoot, but we’d guess sometime in the summer when Harris is on hiatus from Mother. He’ll also be busy promoting the latest Harold & Kumar film and – we’re tempted to see it only because he’s in it – The Smurfs.
*Seriously. You’ve seen Starship Troopers, right?