You probably won't be terribly surprised to discover there's an alternate ending to Pineapple Express -- but you might be surprised to find out how bleak it was. I think we're all glad it didn't end this way, particularly since this scene feels less like an ending and ... well, more like a random DVD extra. I mean, where is Seth Rogen's left hand? Why doesn't he move it? Is it missing? Why does the dialogue feel so inorganic?

This comes courtesy of Empire, whose gotten so cool about handing out embed codes that we can post it here for your viewing pleasure. If you haven't seen the film, you can still watch it. It is spoiler free in all respects, as the real ending is miles away from this one. Watch, enjoy, and be grateful for what might have been.

Sure, I've already shared Seth Rogen's audition for Freaks and Geeks, but since the comedic wonder that is The Pineapple Express is finally here, it's a pretty good time to share old-school Saul and Dale before they reunited, hit the chronic, and got themselves in trouble with dangerous drug dealers. A good ten years ago, they were living in 1980. In the above clip, James Franco's Daniel spends a lot of time going punk, and then Nick (Jason Segel) and Ken (Rogen) make fun of him for his new look, full of distressed clothing and eggy hair.

Most of the kid's from Judd Apatow's old show have come a long way, many of them reuniting over and over in the Apatow universe. But I have to say -- it's high time Sarah Hagan gets a piece of the action. It's just wrong that her last movie was Orange County. Even a little cameo. Just a tiny one to start ... Whaddya say, Judd?

Cross-overs, an old television standard, have been slowly making their way through the world of cinema. But forget the geek crossovers that popped up this summer because there might be a more comedic twist on the way. While talking with MTV, James Franco says there has been discussion about a crossover sequel for Superbad and The Pineapple Express. But it wouldn't be a normal intermingling of characters.

Franco noted that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg weren't very interested in the idea of a Superbad sequel, "And so, an answer to that was to do a Superbad/Pineapple Express crossover, an unprecedented crossover movie with two directors, Greg Motolla and David Gordon Green, each directing half of the movie and somehow these characters get together, which doesn't make sense at all, but could work."

I could see a scenario where Seth gets too into Saul's weed after feeling shunned at the burgeoning friendship between McLovin and Evan, gets into trouble, and Evan has to save him ... maybe with help from the flying-through-the-air Dale and information from Saul. What I don't see is how it would work to do a half-and-half movie.

But what do you think? Should all the kids meet? If so, how should it be done?

While there have been a lot of interesting summer movies to check out this year, from Indy to Wall-E, there are only three that have inspired me to make opening night plans. The first is this week's The Dark Knight, followed by August 8th's Huey Lewis-themed The Pineapple Express, and finally, the wonder that is Tropic Thunder. And now you can rejoice! The Ben Stiller comedy is coming to us earlier.

Ignore that "15" on the wonderful poster to the right, because DreamWorks has moved the comedy up two days to the 13th of August. Sure, it's not a whole bunch of time, but it does cut the wait by a few days. And really -- DreamWorks can't bump it back a week, because then it would be in direct competition with the stoner flick. This new date will give the film a head start on its weekend competition -- Mirrors and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, although I think it will find more competition from the Rogen-led Express.

Do you think this is a good move for the film, and are you ready to change your Wednesday the 13th plans?

Yeah, he's been around the Judd Apatow world for a while now, between Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, but I think it was The 40-Year-Old Virgin that really solidified Seth Rogen's stock. He stole pretty much every scene he was in, and now he's hotter than hot. In a recent discussion with Moviehole, Rogen talked up all those projects we've been hearing about for a while.

At the top of the current buzz is The Pineapple Express, so of course, thoughts are already spinning about a sequel. Rogen mentioned refusing to put a "2" at the end of Superbad, but says of the drug movie: "But this one, it's not a precious coming-of-age story like Superbad, it's a weed action movie and if it did well, and they gave us like $50 million (as opposed to the $26 million we got for this one) we could benefit from that." More Huey Lewis? Sign me up!

As for The Green Hornet, they're currently on the hunt for a director, to start shooting early next year, and to be released in 2010. Funny enough, he also didn't seem to know until he started working on the film that Kevin Smith had taken a stab at the story.

But then there's that untitled project with Judd Apatow, which is now called Funny People. He discussed adding Eric Bana to the mix, which Eugene discussed here. As an added perk -- Cinema Blend got a peek at a small part of the script, if you're curious.

A whole crop of new images have hit the net as of late, including nine brand new stills from the upcoming thriller Eagle Eye, starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson. The film, directed by D.J. Caruso, follows a young slacker (LaBeouf) and a single mom (Monaghan) who somehow get tangled up in a terrorist cell plotting a political assassination. Check out our brand new Eagle Eye gallery below, and keep an eye out for the film when it hits theaters on September 26.



In addition to Eagle Eye, a few more images from the The Pineapple Express were released (see updated gallery below). I'm not sure how to classify Pineapple -- is it a straight-up comedy, a stoner comedy, an action/comedy or an action/stoner comedy with dramatic elements? Either way, I keep hearing excellent things about the flick (which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco) -- and so like Superbad did last August, I'm sure Pineapple (due out August 8) will swoop in and leave us smiling as we hit summer's final stretch.



X-Files after the jump ...

Immediately after watching what appeared to be a last second decision gone awry, I knew people would be talking about it the next day -- especially because it's MTV, because it's a show designed for teens and pre-teens and because Seth Rogen and James Franco kinda made pot smoking "look cool." In an article over at AOL News, Franco admitted that MTV put them up to it -- "even supplying the script, the fake marijuana and the fake joint - then had a last-second change of heart about the bit." That "change of heart" turned into the camera remaining on a wide shot of the stage while Rogen and Franco took hits off the fake joint, coughing in between. Of course, even though the camera was wide, we still heard everything being said -- and could still see the awkward, uncomfortable faces in the crowd, some of whom (like Will Smith) brought their young children with them as dates.

From the article: "MTV wrote it! ... Then backstage there was this big commotion: 'You guys can't say that,"' Franco said. "It says right in the script: 'Lights fake joint."' Of course, this shouldn't take anything away from The Pineapple Express (which I heard was absolutely hysterical and am dying to see), because it's rated R and doesn't pretend to be something it's not. However, the film's green band trailer makes sure not to use the word marijuana or show either character actually putting a joint to their mouth to smoke (going so far as to change the word 'weed' in the trailer song to 'seed') -- so, obviously, it's an issue with the MPAA.

Should it be an issue with the FCC? Did MTV make a huge mistake with this bit, or should they be applauded for taking the comedic risk? (Check out the video after the jump and let us know ...)



[photo courtesy of Getty Images]

Why We Can't Wait to See It: It's a fresh, yet classic stoner story written by Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow, and Evan Goldberg. The trailer looks funnier than hell, there's 227 references, and Huey frickin' Lewis wrote the theme song. Also, Rogen gets to not only fly through the air, but also carry James Franco out of a burning building all action hero-style.

Why It Might Do Well: Between The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad, Seth Rogen has been comedy gold lately. At the very least, the movie will get the loyal Judd Apatow contingent, along with those curious to see what David Gordon Green can do with comedy.

Why It Might Not Do Well: Aliens land on earth and the world ends. Realistically, it should do quite well, but it won't get as many young girls and action-hungry mens seeing it -- both Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and Hell Ride open on the same day.

Fun Fact: The chorus of Huey Lewis' theme song for the film: "We got in trouble, we got to get out of here. I've got you, you've got me. We are as high as we can be. That's all right. How did we get into this mess? Pineapple Express!"

Trivia:



Answer Key

Finally, after all of the waiting, Moviefone has the trailer for The Pineapple Express, which you can watch above (or over there in glorious HD)! And man, it's been worth the anxious wait, even if there's no Huey Lewis to be heard. Under the directorial eye of David Gordon Green, Seth Rogen and James Franco are two pot smoking friends who get in over their heads when Rogen witnesses a cop murder someone. Of course, the only thing to do is go straight to the pot-dealing Franco.

Rogen is, well, Rogen, although he's got one heck of a flying through the air moment that was just completely brilliant, and has me waiting for Seth to take on a buddy cop movie. Franco, meanwhile, is just excellent. Really -- after pushing the boundaries of annoyance with Spidey, he's just stoner greatness. And, it's nice to see Rosie Perez getting down with her bad self.

Watch out for the barracudas!

(Fun Fact: A little birdie out at SXSW told us that, originally, Rogen was supposed to play the stoner and Franco the straight guy. However, Judd Apatow wanted to take a risk and flipped the roles before filming began.)

One of my favorite living directors, David Gordon Green, is in final negotiations to direct the adaptation of John Grisham's The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town, which we told you about in December when it was set up with George Clooney's and Grant Heslov's production company. The film will be distributed by Warner Independent Pictures, which also announced it had picked up distribution duties for Green's latest, Snow Angels. That film will be released sometime next year (why must they wait so long?), while The Innocent Man may take awhile to begin. Green just started filming the stoner comedy The Pineapple Express (Seth Rogen and James Franco reunited!) and he has also written an adaptation of Brad Land's memoir Goat, which is in the pre-production stage, so it isn't clear where Green will fit the Grisham project in.

It is interesting to see such an amazing writer as is Green tackle more projects that aren't original concepts, especially since I haven't yet seen his first adapted work (Snow Angels). Our own James Rocchi wrote of Snow Angels that, "It's still a film that's identifiably his, even as it has the potential to turn him from a lesser-known indie director into an A-level dramatist." That is reassuring enough for me. I do have worries that Green will be too limited to confined spaces like prison cells and courtrooms with the Grisham, but I'm just being a brat because I love his outdoor cinematography so much. Additionally I continue to be saddened every time I hear of another project Green becomes attached to that isn't A Confederacy of Dunces.