In a competitive situation, Universal Pictures has acquired an untitled cop comedy from “Cougar Town” writer-producer Blake McCormick, setting up the buzzed-about spec script with the studio’s “American Reunion” helmers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg to produce and direct.
Kaplan/Perrone took the project out and Universal made its interest known over the weekend, closing a deal Tuesday night.
Laffer follows two best friends who, following a costume party dressed as cops, are mistaken as real police officers and forced to bring a dangerous criminal back to the station.
Joseph Amaral, a creative exec at Hurwitz & Schlossberg Productions, is set to co-produce.
“The moment we read Blake’s script, we knew it had the kind of crowd-pleasing potential that Universal is looking for. [It’s] packed with the right characters, action, and most importantly laughs to bring our audience on a hysterical ride,” said Hurwitz.
“We love how Blake draws comedy from both outrageous situations and the characters themselves. In particular, he does an excellent job with classic odd-couple banter — something very near and dear to us,” added Schlossberg.
McCormick recently sold a single camera comedy to CBS last week that Will Gluck is producing. He also served as a writer and co-producer on “King of the Hill.” Scribe is repped by UTA, Kaplan/Perrone and attorney Jared Levine.
Made on a reported production budget of $50 million, Hurwitz and Schlossberg’s “American Reunion” went on to gross $234 million worldwide. Helmers also created New Line’s lucrative “Harold & Kumar” franchise, directing the second installment of the hit stoner series. Duo are repped by CAA and attorney Adam Kaller.
