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"Superbad" helmer Greg Mottola will direct the extraterrestrial comedy "Paul" for Working Title and Universal Pictures. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the duo behind "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz," will star.....Story revolves around two British slackers who, after visiting Comic-Con, go on a road trip to Area 51, where they encounter a small alien named Paul, who enlists them to help him find his way home. Pegg and Frost penned the screenplay for the pic, which will shoot in March. Edgar Wright, who directed "Hot Fuzz" and "Shaun of the Dead," is exec producing.

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“That movie is a far more technically challenging movie than Adventureland was because one of the main characters is a fully non-existent creature. He’s basically an alien who may be, let’s say, 70% CGI and the big challenge is that he needs to be a very funny, comedic method actor. It’s not the kind of CGI character where we people to say ‘Oh wow, look what they did, that’s so cool’ it’s actually the kind of CGI character where we want people to just treat like another actor in the film, and he should be fully believable and multi-faceted and has to give a great performance, he just doesn’t exist. We’ve been doing a lot of test trying to figure out how to pull that one off.”

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“It’s rare that an R-rated comedy would have a CGI Creature right at the centre of it so I’m learning quite a bit.”

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While not much is publicly known about Greg Mottola’s Paul, some lovely details are starting to filter up from very dependable sources. The film, written by and starring Hot Fuzz buddy cops Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, is a road movie sci-fi comedy. They will be playing two British geeks on a trip to the US for the San Diego Comic-Con who meet the titular Paul, an alien looking to go home.

Simon has the role of Graham Willy and Nick will be Clive Gollings. While Pegg, at least, can probably identify to a large degree with the characters’ requisite fanatical nerdiness, the two actors are going to need quite extensive makeovers to actually look the part.

According to the rock-solid info I’ve been given, Pegg’s Graham is a very greasy, lanky character with buck teeth. His wig (or extensions) will have to run down to his knees and false teeth
will definitely be required. The plan is also for him to wear very thick glasses too. As for Clive, Frost will be dressed in a long leather duster, standard issue sci-fi tie-in T-shirt and have a stack of tightly curly hair.

I can almost see them now. And in a way, I wish that I couldn’t.

As for how Paul himself will look, the physical description I was given was quite vague - he should be about three foot tall and have the standard-issue graylien almond eyes. His costume will be one of cut off jeans and flip-flop shoes… and nothing else, so we’ll get to see if he blends reptilian skin with mammalian nipples. In some scenes, apparently, he won’t look like anything at all because Paul has the ability to turn himself invisible with a similar chameleonic technique to that of a Predator.

I’ve been sworn to secrecy on almost everything else but I can reveal that Pegg and Frost have planned for the film to feature a special cameo appearance from a hugely famous film director in a key flashback. I won’t name him, but I think you can guess who - particularly when I confirm he has actually directed the duo, and recently too. Use your imagination.

If you’re going to Comic-Con this year you should be able to meet Graham and Clive in person because the plan seems to be to film some sequences of the film during the real event.

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Superbad/Adventureland director Greg Mottola’s next film is shaping up to be the funniest geek comedy ever filmed. But before I get into the new casting, let me tell you a little about the movie.

Scripted by and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (the duo from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) as two British nerds, fresh off a trip to Comic Con, who decide to go on a road trip to Area 51. They meet an alien named Paul who asks them to help him escape from the U.S. Government. I’ve heard the script is laugh out loud funny, with tons of references to Aliens, Star Wars, and Back To The Future. So how can it get any better than that?

Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Jane Lynch have been cast in the movie. Rogen will be providing the voice for the alien creature, and we can only assume that Bateman, Wiig, Hader and Lynch will either play government officials or characters they meet along the way on their road trip adventure.

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British comics Simon Pegg and Nick Frost will film at the convention center and environs this summer on Paul, a comedy feature costarring Sigourney Weaver.

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