"Bored to Death" Movie Officially in Development

[JamesG]

"Bored to Death" Movie Officially in Development at HBO
by Nellie Andreeva
1/22/13


HBO‘s noir comedy series "Bored to Death", which ended its three-season run in Nov. 2011, is getting a second act as a potential theatrical movie.

HBO Films has put in development a "Bored to Death" feature written by the series creator/executive producer, author Jonathan Ames.



While it had a relatively narrow appeal and attracted modest audiences, the series quickly achieved a cult status and developed devoted following by a group of core fans, while also earning largely positive reviews from critics.

It also boasted one of the strongest casts assembled on a TV show with three actors who all have carried a theatrical movie: Jason Schwartzman as struggling novelist-turned-amateur sleuth Jonathan Ames, Zach Galifianakis as Jonathan’s comic book artist best friend Ray, and Ted Danson as Jonathan’s womanizing, pot-loving mentor George.





The movie will feature the same characters — Jonathan, Ray, and George — as they reunite to fight crime, commit crime, lose their minds, and fail-at-love in what is described as a "Bored to Death" feature-length slapstick adventure.

The film is in very early stages, and there are no deals in place with Schwartzman, Galifianakis and Danson, but the actors have expressed their fondness for the show and desire to reprise their roles.

Ames executive produces the feature project with Sarah Condon and Stephanie Davis.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/bore...-at-hbo-films/

[JamesG]

Jonathan Ames on the "Bored to Death" Movie
by Jennifer Vineyard
3/1/13


You said before that if you got a fourth season, you were going to put Isla Fisher's character, Jonathan's half-sister, in a sanitarium, to recover from the accidental incest.

What's the plan for the movie?

Maybe it would be one of those Mel Brooks things, a dark shot of the sanitarium. Hopefully she'll be alright and get over it. Not get over it, but survive, you know? But yeah, that whole thing, the idea was to search for the father. The Oedipal quest.

I had once heard in a literature class at Princeton that the first detective in literature was Oedipus — which is something that was said in season one — so I thought, Okay, let's set him off on this Oedipal quest. And when Oedipus went on this quest, he inadvertently slept with his mother. Because when you go to solve mysteries, you find out dark things.

Finding out the mystery of his father, Jonathan discovers he slept with his sister. So in the movie, Jonathan is very affected by it in the movie — I won't say how or why, but it's a few years later. It's not entirely the plan for the fourth season, because it's like cupcakes to cake with the movie. I have to think of the people who've never seen any of this before, so I don't want to do a lot of tying off of things for the more dedicated fan. There will be some of that.

But if someone is seeing it for the first time, can they get it enough?





What's your schedule for making the movie happen?

Just write it and see. I feel like with the TV show, or anything that comes together, I think of it as a Swiss clock of luck. It has the precision of a Swiss clock, but it's all luck: for the TV show to have happened at all, to have met Jason [Schwartzman], for him to decide to do TV, for HBO to have suggested Ted Danson, for me to have written this story at a certain time in my life for someone at HBO to take meetings.

So many lucky things had to happen, it's really remarkable. I don't know what kind of budget we'll have, it might still be small, but there are a number of big images I want to go to, that I was going to do anyway to be cinematic, to be silly and/or beautiful.

Like in one season, I wanted to recreate the ending of Casablanca and Some Like It Hot, so I had them going on the boat and them walking across the foggy airstrip. I know it's cheesy to combine two movies like that, but I do think it made for a beautiful last scene in that episode. Every episode had a big, fun moment like that I wanted to get to, and then I would work backwards, story wise, to validate that.

So in the movie, I'll have several of those. Obviously I want a good story, but so much of the charm of the show was anecdotal, them just talking. So that's the challenge, and I hope I can pull it off for 90 minutes.

Basically what I'm doing right now is gathering all of my notes. I carry around these little notebooks, and I would write down images I wanted, snippets of dialogue, funny notions, character arcs, all very scattered. [Takes out a notebook] This happens to be the one I have now, but I haven't started in this one yet. I type all that up, and then I figure, How do I string all this together?

I had to pitch it, so I know the structure of the movie, but I want to be open to change it in case something better comes along. So right now, I'm just writing, gathering all my notes. Everything has to be approved, too.





Have you shared your ideas with the cast yet? Ted Danson seemed to think Jonathan would become a policeman, and that Ray and George would be roommates.

Not really. I'm just sort of starting out. Jason and I might confer more, because we're more frequently in touch.





Well, whenever I run into anyone who was on the show, from Zach Galifianakis to John Hodgman to Kevin Bacon to Dick Cavett, they all say they are down to do whatever you come up with, if you'll have them.

That's so nice of you to follow up on that!





I think I broke the news to Zach, when I told him about the movie at the premiere of The Campaign. He was so excited.

Ted and Zach have the funniest rapport. The three of them are all just really sweet pals, and I was kind of the fourth wheel. They didn't know each other before, and they became really dear friends. So yeah, they're great guys.

With the TV show, we were working together so closely, and I would tell them their arc for the season, but this is going to be a long term project, so I'm not going to bother them with something that may or may not happen.

http://www.vulture.com/2013/03/jonat...interview.html

[Chocolate Moose]

I guess these things take a long time?