Todd Phillips and Zach Galifianakis Book Two Films: Due Date and Hangover 2

Now we know what Zach Galifianakis and Todd Phillips are going to do to celebrate The Hangover making several boatloads of cash: they’ll do two more movies together. Variety reports that both have signed on to make Due Date for Warner Bros., and then they’ll do The Hangover 2 next year. (Actually, the trade doesn’t specifically say that anyone but Phillips and his co-writer Scot Armstrong are currently set for H2, but the returning trio is a very safe bet.) Due Date is one of the three possible projects we reported on a couple of days ago, and one that has kind of a Hangover plus Planes, Trains and Automobiles implication as we learn more about the plot.

Due Date, by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland, with rewrites by Adam Sztykiel, has Galifianakis as the companion to an expectant father as they dash cross-country to (hopefully) arrive in time for the childbirth. The father role is yet to be cast. That’ll shoot at the beginning of October for and early June release in 2010. Then Hangover 2 will go in front of cameras later next year for a Memorial Day ‘11 release. That schedule probably also leaves room to scuttle the sequel if Due Date tanks.

I’m glad that these guys have work set up, and I’m glad that Phillips got The Hangover made by brokering a deal that, in the end, has netted him a serious amount of money. But neither of these movies are anything I can get excited about. Maybe that’ll change as further cast and story details are announced. And I thought The Hangover sounded dumb when first announced too, so what the hell do I know? One thing I do know is that I’m getting as tired of writing about this series of projects as you might be of reading about it; hopefully we can now take a break for a while.

Oh, one last note: Man-Witch, the Phillips film that once was slated for Jack Black, is still happening in some form, but he’s off as director and will only produce as it goes forward. Now we’re done. Really.