Now that Superbad has made him a household name (because God forbid anyone actually watched Arrested Development), Michael Cera is starting to pile on the gigs. Variety reports that Cera will star alongside Kat Dennings (who's also doing quite well for herself as of late) in Mandate Pictures' Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, based on the novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. The story is said to revolve around two "bridge-and-tunnel teenagers, nursing broken hearts, who fall in love during one sleepless night in New York while searching for their favorite band's unannounced show." For those who do not know what a "bridge-and-tunnel teenager" is, that just means they don't live in the city; instead, they live in a place (Long Island, most of the time) where one needs to take either a bridge or a tunnel to get into the city. Usually, on Friday and Saturday nights, the hot spots in NYC are filled with the so-called "bridge-and-tunnel crowd," and the locals stay away. Hard to explain why, but let's just say you can spot them from a mile away.

Anyway, I'm pretty stoked to see they tapped Peter Sollett to direct the film. Sollett first broke onto the scene with a little indie (made on the cheap) called Raising Victor Vargas, about two teenagers from the Lower East Side of Manhattan who struggle to maintain their sanity amidst an eccentric cast of characters. I really liked the film, and was excited to see a new New York City-based director interested in telling stories about New Yorkers who weren't covered in money, living in gigantic apartments that just don't exist in reality unless you have over $4 million to blow. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist will mark Sollett's first gig since Vargas (amazing that it's taken this long for him to get something else going), and the script was written by Lorene Scafaria. Sony Pictures will distribute, while production is scheduled to begin later this year.

According to Advertising Age Magazine, we will soon be subjected to a Burger King movie. I know what you're thinking. When I read this article, I thought I'd woken up in the wrong universe this morning. But it is apparently true. The fast food company is working with the advertisement firm Crispin Porter & Bogusky on the project, which has a partially written script but no director, cast or studio. No plot was given either, but the firm says it will take place in an apartment above a Burger King and will be a cross between Napoleon Dynamite, Garden State, Raising Victor Vargas and What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, intentionally avoiding the kind of dumb comedy featured in another fast-food-advertisement of a movie, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. The budget will be under $10 million and the movie will not feature any name stars (as if any would do this).

The thing that worked for Harold & Kumar is that it was dumb, and people could enjoy it because it didn't take itself seriously. A somewhat serious movie marketed by Burger King seems way too ridiculous for anybody to accept. Perhaps the restaurant chain could do well to remember a little disaster called Mac and Me, which was a blatant advertisement for McDonalds that horribly ripped off E.T. and featured such serious subjects as a handicapped child and a broken home. It had the awful stench of old guys in suits who think they know what is necessary to make a hit but who actually have no clue. This Burger King thing stinks pretty similarly. These are the people who have been giving us one of the creepiest commercial campaigns ever to hit television (and no, the king mascot will not appear in the movie).

So, I say good luck to Burger King in blowing a hunk of money on something that will probably fail. Once in awhile I encourage stupid businessmen to learn the hard way. 

[via Hollywood Wiretap]