Judd Apatow’s next film will be a sequel / spinoff of Knocked Up

After the disappointing critical and commercial success of FUNNY PEOPLE, many people were wondering what Judd Apatow would do next. As it turns out, he took some time off, got back to producing (this year he has Kristen Wiig’s BRIDESMAIDS and the Paul Rudd comedy WANDERLUST both set for release) and slowly set out to answer that question in his own mind. Apatow has been quietly working on his next script and now we have some insight as to where Apatow is going with his fourth directorial project and, as it turns out, he’s going back to what launched him into A-list status.

Apatow’s next project will star Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd, his stars from KNOCKED UP, as…his stars from KNOCKED UP. Mann and Rudd will reprise their roles as Debbie and Pete, the dysfunctional couple juxtaposed next to Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen’s characters. While I have no information to back this up, I think it’s very likely that Maude and Iris Apatow (Judd and Leslie’s real life daughters) will also return to play the children of Debbie and Pete.

What is much less likely is the return of Katherine Heigl who openly criticized Apatow after the success of KNOCKED UP saying that the film was “sexist” and “paints women as shrews, as humorless and uptight.” Apatow was as diplomatic as he could be publicly saying, “You’d think at some point I’d get a call saying ‘Sorry, I was tired…’ and then the call never comes.”

Heigl won’t be returning but what of Seth Rogen’s character who became friendly with Rudd’s Pete throughout the course of KNOCKED UP? Would he still have the baby? So many questions and unfortunately little in the way of answers at this point. All we really know are that Mann and Rudd are back as their KNOCKED UP characters and that the film will begin shooting this summer for a June 1, 2012 release.

UPDATE – Apatow posted a little nugget on Twitter only slightly elaborating on the news: “it takes place currently. Lots of fun details to it but I will keep them quiet for a little while.”

UPDATE 2 – I’m told the film won’t really be a spinoff but to think of it how Aldous Snow was in both FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL and GET HIM TO THE GREEK.