Jake Kasdan to Direct Bad Teacher

Posted by on May 28th, 2009   Filed under: Comedy
Source: Coming Soon

jakekasdanbadteacher

Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg are quickly becoming hot commodities in the world of comedy screenwriting. They broke into the industry as writers for NBC’s The Office, and from there they also penned the upcoming Harold Ramis comedy Year One, which then landed them the coveted job of writing Ghostbusters 3. Talk about a pay off! Now it looks like one of their unproduced spec scripts has also been picked up and assigned a decent director over at Columbia Pictures.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jake Kasdan will direct Stupnitsky and Eisenberg’s Bad Teacher, a comedy about a foul-mouthed seventh-grade female teacher who tries to steal the boyfriend of a colleague. This, like Kevin Smith’s A Couple of Dicks, is another script that was on the 2008 Black List, meaning it was highly regarded within Hollywood. Kasdan previously directed Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and while I still have yet to see that film, I have been told that it wasn’t as bad as the reviews indicated. I did, however, really enjoy Kasdan’s indie comedy The TV Set, which was based on his experiences working on Freaks and Geeks with Judd Apatow. What did you think of Walk Hard? Does Kasdan sound like a good match for this script?



  • Goon

    re: Walk Hard

    “I have been told that it wasn’t as bad as the reviews indicated.”

    Um… Sean?
    http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/walk_hard/

  • Goon

    It was the box office of Walk Hard that was a flop, not the critical reception. In fact I’m pretty sure it even had a couple major golden globe noms.

  • Sean

    I guess you’re right, I just remember it flopping. Another reason why I should probably catch up with it on DVD.

  • J

    Criminally underrated comedy.

  • Goon

    If you watch it, the regular cut is better than the extended one.

  • brad

    Walk Hard is the best comedy is a really long time. Definitely underrated. Check out the theater version though, the other one is really long and might not be good for someone who isn’t already a fan of it.

  • Matt

    Man, I’m glad to see a lot of supprot for Walk Hard. I thought I was one of the very few who liked it. But you should definitely check it out, Sean. As for this Bad Teacher business, I will have to know more before about it. Jake Kasdan is directing, which is good and fine, but he’s not the only reason Walk Hard was so funny.

  • TheWrongKidDied

    Sean as someone who worked on the crew of Walk Hard, I can tell you that the studio version that was released in theaters all but drained the funny out of this picture. Jake Kasdan is one of the best directors I’ve worked with — kind, generous, NOT an egomaniac, and in my opinion way too clever & talented to be lost in the Apatow clan. It sort of broke my heart to see his vision reduced to just another lame parody. They cut out most of the scenes that made it original, only gave you a taste of the music which was brilliantly crafted, omitted entire story lines featuring hilarious appearances by 80’s TV actors, replaced the kid playing Dewey’s brother with that overrated schlub Jonah Hill, and for what? To get 18 to 24yr-olds to buy tickets! I understand it’s all about business but this film was NOT made for that audience! It’s over their heads! Do yourself a favor and watch the self-proclaimed “incredibly long, self-indulgent director’s cut” on DVD. It’s vastly superior to the theatrical release & more of a true representation of Kasdan’s ability. I’ll see anything this dude does and would work for him again in a heartbeat.