Steve Carell re-teaming with Crazy Stupid Love duo on backpacker comedy

One of the great surprises of this past summer wasn't one of the usual seasonal blockbusters, it was instead a well-acted, thoughtful romantic comedy featuring a number of fantastic performances. That film was Crazy, Stupid, Love, starring Steve Carell and directed by the duo of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa(I Love You Phillip Morris). The film went on to be a pretty significant hit, lasting far longer in the box office than some of more visible stuff that came out around the same time. In fact it's hung around long enough to rack up over $100M here in the States, and is faring just as well overseas right now.

The trio must've had a blast working together, as in an interview with Moviehole, the filmmakers revealed details on what's next on their plate, including one comedy that sees them reuniting with Carell. He'd only be on board as a producer, with no plans for him to star at this point. Here's what Ficarra and Requa had to say about it...

Requa: Well… We’re working on something with Steve also, that he’s producing. He’s not starring but it’s based on the idea he had. We wrote the script already. It’s one of these three friends from college, but now they’re in their 40s, movies. They’re going on a European backpacking trip that that they never did. And it’s filled with all this middle-aged fun.

The words "middle-aged fun" have me seeing visions of Wild Hogs travelling through Europe, but I trust whatever this is it'll be better than that crappy film was.  They also have an idea for a romance film featuring two con artists which sounds an awful lot like Duplicity...

Requa: A romance, a con romance. We thought it would be interesting to a movie about two con people, a man and a woman who fall in love and suddenly… Because to be a con you have to sort of, in a way turn human beings into objects or things that are to be manipulated. But then to have people fall in love and suddenly their kind of humanity and morality is a little bit… To have them deal with it and does it affect their ability to do their job. So it could be… It could be very funny.

The duo launched their careers years ago with their crude script for the R-rated Christmas comedy, Bad Santa. They've since gone on to become successful directors, so you'd think they'd have been asked to direct the Bad Santa sequel which is underway, right? Turns out they were, but turned it down. Apparently director Terry Zwigoff isn't going to be involved, either. Right now, two parallal scripts are being prepared for much anticipated sequel, with whatever isn't used likely going into a third film.

Any chance of a Crazy Stupid Love sequel? I mean it is their most popular film by far. Easy way to rake in some extra cash, right?

Ficarra: No, I don’t think anybody involved would want to do it. Yeah. I mean, maybe perhaps in twenty years we might reunite everyone and revisit the characters; we could see different phases of their lives. But right now I think, you know, we’ve sent them on their way.