Mike Arnold Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Thirteen years ago, well before You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Adam Sandler was Billy Madison -- the twenty-something slacker who had to go back to school to prove his worth to his father. But it wasn't just hitting the halls of high school; Billy slid his adult butt into the teeny chairs for elementary education. And now we're getting another academic fish out of water story, but of the home-schooled variety.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that DreamWorks has picked up a pitch by Mike Arnold and Chris Poole called Home Schooled. It's about some 30-year-old guy who has done his learnin' from home, and is now going to head off to college. If it took him that long to finish elementary and high school, I'm betting this transition won't go smoothly, and will probably have some Old School wildness to boot.

While we haven't seen any of their work on the big screen yet, Arnold and Poole are on a role. The Grackle has been picked up by New Line for Matthew McConaughey to star in; Captain Awesome was picked up by Fox Atomic; they're writing The Litigator as part of a blind script deal; and finally, they've got Beaujolais going at Fox, with the Farrelly brothers producing and Danny McBride starring. That's not too bad for a duo who write their scripts through Skype.

It's been quite some time since the Farrelly Bros. have given us a gem like There's Something About Mary, Kingpin or Dumb and Dumber. Big-screen comedy trends seem to be changing; moving away from the random gross-out gags and more toward the random pop-culture references. But that won't stop Bobby and Peter Farrelly from navigating toward material they're familiar with -- and Variety tells us their latest comes from a script written by Mike Arnold and Chris Poole. It's called Beaujolais. Yup. I don't know what it means; Wiki says it's a wine.

Anyway, the Farrelly boys are going to produce with an eye on possibly directing. Variety describes Beaujolais as a "redneck action-adventure with a protagonist along the lines of Austin Powers or Ace Ventura." So basically it's Larry the Cable guy with a few more catchphrases. Danny McBride is currently in talks to star; he's popped up in films like The Heartbreak Kid and Hot Rod, with upcoming roles in Land of the Lost and Tropic Thunder.

Do you think Peter and Bobby Farrelly still have a comedy classic left inside them? Or has their type of humor simply taken a long walk off a short pier? (Man, would I love to see another Outside Providence from these boys ...)

In a million years, I never thought this day would come. It's unbelievable and, honestly, I'm totally flattered. You're probably wondering why I'm so excited, and I'm happy to share with you the following fantastic news: Fox Atomic is making a movie about me! Seriously, I'm just about as shocked as you are. In fact, I had no idea this whole thing was going down until I read Variety this morning. Yeah, way to keep the pic's main character in the loop, right?

The film is called Captain Awesome (ie: yours truly), and Fox Atomic has just picked up the script. Written by Mike Arnold and Chris Poole, the high-concept plot is currently being kept under wraps, but folks are leaning towards it being about some dude who writes for Cinematical by day and transforms into an awesome superhero at night. I mean, that's if they decide to use me as the pic's main focus -- after all, "Captain Awesome" was the nickname my doctor gave me at birth. Mark O'Connor has come onboard to produce, which marks his second time working with the writing duo. Arnold and Poole (who are lawyers by day and screenwriters by night) recently sold a spec called The Grackle, with Matthew McConaughey reportedly attached to star.

No word yet on casting for Captain Awesome, but the filmmakers should know that they're going to have to work around my schedule here at Cinematical. That's right, my loyalty is with them ... but I'll be happy to show up on set and help the actors get into character.