Funnymen duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) are back together for the upcoming sci fi/comedy Paul. Named after a wise-cracking alien (voiced by Seth Rogen), Paul will have its North American premiere next month at Austin’s upcoming film festival SXSW.
It’s hard to imagine this comedy missing the mark, as Pegg and Frost reunite to play a pair of comic book geeks on a road trip to America’s UFO heartland, Area 51. Little known to these two sci fi nerds, a smart-ass alien has just escaped from a nearby top-secret installation and hitches a ride in their rented RV. Running from secret agents and fanatical fathers, will these two nobodies inadvertently become galactic heroes?
Not only does this film star comic heavy-weights Pegg, Frost and Rogen, but boasts a riotous cast which includes Jane Lynch (Glee), Sigourney Weaver, Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Kristen Wiig and Jeffrey Tambor. Greg Mottola (Superbad) directed the script penned by Pegg and Frost. With those credentials, I am hopeful. Though, from what I saw in the trailers, the alien effects look rather amateurish/fake. This could be meta. And then there is the possibility (given that one of the main characters is a wise-cracking alien) that it could feel like a really long ALF episode…I guess we’ll see.
Paul will have its U.S. theatrical release on March 18th.