When Ruben Fleischer came seemingly out of nowhere with Zombieland back in the fall of 2009, he wasn't just a hot new director who'd put together a really entertaining and hilarious zombie movie-- he was a hot new director with a ton of options in front of him. Stories flew around about Fleischer considering directing everything from the 21 Jump Street movie to Mission: Impossible 4, weeks of speculation that led to Fleischer picking something much, much smaller-- a goofy action comedy called 30 Minutes or Less.

Now 30 Minutes or Less is in theaters this weekend, reuniting Fleischer with his Zombieland star Jesse Eisenberg along with Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari and Nick Swardson. I talked to Fleischer a few weeks ago about his work on the movie, and the conversation started by going back to the moment when he decided to walk away from a Tom Cruise franchise and instead make an action comedy about a pizza delivery guy. Check out the video below, in which he describes how 30 Minutes or Less felt like his own movie, and what he thought when he eventually saw the teaser trailer for Mission: Impossible-- Ghost Protocol, which was directed by Brad Bird.



I'll have the rest of my video interview with Fleischer up tomorrow, in which we talk about the movies that inspired his new film, how he helps the audience laugh even in the face of real violence, and exactly what you can get away with while shooting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 30 Minutes or Less opens this Friday.