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Some projects presumably gather their own momentum heedless of whether they ought to have gotten rolling in the first place. A first directorial and screenplay feature for actors Judy Greer and Gary Lundy, respectively, “A Happening of Monumental Proportions” boasts a cast of worthy names (down to some significant cameos), no doubt each of whom were attracted by the people who’d signed on before them. Involvement surely seemed like a good idea at the time.

Yet here the film is, sneaking into an unlucky 13 U.S. theaters well after an under-radar festival premiere, and darned if anyone seeing the final result could suss why so much established talent climbed aboard a vessel doomed to sink at the dock. This is one of those mirthless ensemble comedies in which the central mistake is assuming that having a couple “normal” characters afflicted by numerous cartoonishly annoying ones will be hilarious — and somehow life-affirming in the end.

Men have it tough, don’t they? I mean they have to worry about married women they’ve engaged in inner-office affairs with ratting them out to the new boss. Some are forced to face the crushing existential crisis that comes with their failed pipe dreams of rock stardom revealing how they’re nothing but lowly private school music teachers who’ve accomplished nothing in their lives — including, apparently, educating the children in their class. And don’t get me started on the ones who must endure the untimely death of their wives and the inconvenience of then having to juggle alpha male status at work with fatherhood. Blech. Why can’t the world just let us be pricks spouting homophobic rhetoric to compensate for penis size like we were born to do?

Screenwriter Gary Lundy asks this question with the final, surprising cameo-led scene of A Happening of Monumental Proportions.

The summer of 2015 could have been the summer of Judy Greer, with the long-time character actress snagging roles in massive tentpole features like “Jurassic World,” “Ant-Man,” the “Entourage” movie and “Tomorrowland,” but what stood out most about Greer’s turns in those blockbusters was just how little they did to capitalize on her talent or charms. In three of those films, Greer was cast as a mostly ancillary mother character, while “Entourage” didn’t even bother to give her role a name (she was just “Casting Director”).

Instead of offering the actress, a two-decade veteran of the industry who has worked in both film and television, a chance to make a well-earned splash on a giant scale, she was mostly pushed to the background. That was nothing new for Greer, but even as she’s struggled from a phenomenon described by Scott Meslow of The Week (which asked, “How did...

Judy Greer as Shelly with Pepper in Craig Johnson's Wilson

Having just wrapped up her directorial debut A Happening of Monumental Proportions, written by Gary Lundy, starring Bradley Whitford, Katie Holmes, Common, and Allison Janney, Judy Greer talked about her work on Wilson.

Greer plays Shelly, professional dog sitter, who takes care of Wilson's (Woody Harrelson) fox terrier called Pepper. Wilson is a man without many friends because he always says what he considers to be the truth. While his life begins to spin out of control, with an ex-wife Pippi (Laura Dern), a furious former sister-in-law Polly (Cheryl Hines), and the discovery of a daughter named Claire (Isabella Amara), Shelly remains a calm - if half-forgotten by the story - port in his storm, until all comes full circle and we return to her with a surprising vengeance.

Judy Greer with Isabella Amara: "I'm a real...

The company is partnering with All Nippon Entertainment Works (Anew), Nippon Television and Chris and Paul Weitz’s production company Depth Of Field.

EuropaCorp holds worldwide rights and will join its partners to develop, finance and produce the English-language remake of Takashi Miike’s Japanese thriller and 2013 Cannes competition selection.

Shield Of Straw centres on five police officers tasked with protecting a killer who has been targeted by his victim’s wealthy grandfather.

Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen screenwriters Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt are writing the screenplay.

The producer of the original work, Nippon TV’s Naoaki Kitazima, reprises his role alongside Depth Of Field’s Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano and Dan Balgoyen, and Anew CEO Sandy Climan and EuropaCorp.

“We are thrilled at the prospect of bringing the remake of the Japanese thriller Shield Of Straw to American audiences and the worldwide market,” said EuropaCorp president Lisa Ellzey, who made Monday...

Why isn't John Cho a bigger star than he is? The dude has had some big roles in major movies, and constantly exudes a cool, effortless charisma that's intoxicating for a lot of his fans. If you're one of the people who have been hoping that Hollywood would finally get its sh*t together and put him to good use, we may have a bit of good news. Variety reports that Cho is developing a new TV series with Gary Lundy and Hand of God creator Ben Watkins called Connoisseur, which Cho is supposed to headline.

The story "centers around Clay Park (Cho), a brilliant con artist who dupes the wealthiest, most powerful people in the country into paying millions for fake wine, but his hustle forces him into a deadly bargain with an organized crime syndicate, puts him in the cross-hairs of the FBI, and unearths the details of...

John Cho is about to climb behind the wheel of his first starring vehicle.

The go-to supporting player (Sleepy Hollow, Selfie, FlashForward, etc) and Star Trek vet has signed on to headline Connoisseur, an hour-long crime drama currently in development at USA Network, Variety reports.

RelatedShooter Update: USA Network Delays Sniper Drama’s Launch (Again)

The potential series, from up-and-coming scribe Gary Lundy and Hand of God creator Ben Watkins, revolves around Clay Park, a brilliant con artist who dupes the wealthiest, most powerful people in the country into paying millions for fake wine. But his hustle forces him into...

Common continues to add to his busy slate, joining the cast of "A Happening of Monumental Proportions," a comedic drama in which he'll co-star alongside and Allison Janney. The project, the feature directorial debut of actress Judy Greer, tells a sex and violence-filled tale that occurs over the course of a single day, set in a Los Angeles school, that serves as the backdrop. Greer will direct from a script penned by Gary Lundy, which was a semi-finalist for the prestigious Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship, and was a Sundance Writer’s Lab finalist. No word yet on what roles Common and Janney are attached to play. Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz and Andrew Miano...

Common and Allison Janney are set to star in Depth of Field's comedic drama "A Happening of Monumental Proportions" which marks the feature directorial debut of actress Judy Greer.

Gary Lundy's Sundance Writer's Lab finalist script is set in a small school in Los Angeles that serves as the backdrop for an all-in-one-day story of sex, lies and dead bodies.

Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, David Gardner and Andrew Miano are producing. Shooting kicks off in Los Angeles in January once Common wraps his work on the currently filming "John Wick" sequel, Janney finishes Tate Taylor's "The Girl on the Train" and Greer wraps "War for the Planet of the Apes".

Source: THR...

CBS is developing Hot Sauce, a half-hour comedy from Drunk Wedding filmmaker Nick Weiss, writer-actor Gary Lundy and ABC Studios. Co-written by Weiss and Lundy, Hot Sauce follows a high-powered, no-nonsense mom who relocates her family to small-town Louisiana to work for the most popular hot sauce company in the world. There she finds herself pitted against a culture and community she doesn't want infiltrating her family. Weiss will direct the potential pilot and…...

It is hard to think of two projects more different than the horror-comedy The Cabin in the Woods, which hits cinemas April 13, and the new Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, which opened a couple of weeks back (to a rave review from EW’s Thom Geier). But they do have a couple things in common. Both productions have an impressive amount of behind-the-scenes talent: Cabin was cowritten by Buffy creator Joss Whedon while Salesman is directed by the legendary Mike Nichols. And both feature ex-Dollhouse actor Fran Kranz, who plays the role of...

Actress Kristanna Loken talks about her role Hottessa in The Legend of Awesomest Maximus, due out on Blu-ray and DVD March 20

Actress Kristanna Loken broke onto the scene playing the deadly/sexy T-x terminator in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, after many years of smaller guest-starring roles on TV. The actress has put together a diverse body of work since then, with bigger TV roles, recurring on The L Word and starring as Painkiller Jane, and film roles such as BloodRayne and Swat: Firefight.

The actress is now delving into the comedy world with the spoof National Lampoon's the Legend of Awesomest Maximus, which debuts on Blu-ray and DVD March 20. I recently had the chance to speak with Kristanna Loken over the phone, and here's what she had to say about playing a character named Hottessa in this spoof.

It looks like it's been awhile since you've done a comedy.