The Duplass Brothers Planning An Action Thriller With Next Film Pitchfork

Having release one of the most sneakily affecting and also hilarious comedies of last year with Cyrus, directing brothers Mark and Jay Duplass ought to be prominent on the radar of anyone who fears that original comedies-- and even romantic ones-- are dying out. Their upcoming followup film Jeff Who Lives At Home, starring Ed Helms and Jason Segel, looks equally as promising, and now they may complete what's looking like a trilogy of films about mothers and grown sons with Pitchfork, described as a "dramatic thriller" to The LA Times.

They report that the script the Duplass brothers are sending to various studios follows a mother whose indie rocker son passes away; in her grief she decides to take revenge on one blogger at the music website Pitchfork who criticized her son, only to discover that the blogger is just a dopey teenager. Susan Sarandon, the middle-aged mother we all wish we had, is being eyed for the mom part, while Jonah Hill-- who played a son unnaturally attached to his mom Marisa Tomei in Cyrus-- has talked to the brothers about playing the blogger (though, at 27, he's a little old for the part). Jeff Who Lives At Home also features a middle-aged mom dealing with her son, with Jason Segel playing a grown man running a specific errand for his mother… played by Susan Sarandon. Hey, she knows her niche.

The switch in Pitchfork to a dramatic thriller seems a little sudden for the Duplasses, who are starting to get serious recognition for their low-key comedic skills thanks. But they've shown such a good ear for the way people interact in their earlier films that I'm inclined to trust them anyway-- and clearly they've got a few gripes against online bloggers, so maybe I ought to keep quiet no matter what. It's exciting just to have two filmmakers who seem to be making the films they care about and carving their own path through the industry, especially when they're willing to change things up and take some risks.