It has been almost two years now since news first spread aboutKnocked UpandLong Shotstar Seth Rogen’s bizarre-sounding, pickle-related comedy. Even for a Rogen centered comedy, the plot is pretty out there. Well, it has now found a home, and, since movie theaters are still currently under mass closures at the moment, Sony Pictures has sold the movie to HBO with HBO now planning to debut the movie on its upcoming streaming service HBO Max this summer, though a release date is not confirmed. The announcement comes straight from Rogen himself, who also took the opportunity to drop the movie’s delightful title:An American Pickle.
“Couldn’t be more thrilled that my next film “An American Pickle” will be on HBO Max this summer. I can’t wait for you all to see it, but here’s a taste! Get it?!?!”
Clearly the puns are going to come thick and fast.Seth Rogencertainly sounds very excited about the movie’s imminent release, no doubt hoping it will provide some light relief to audiences who really need it right now.
An American Pickleis set to be based on the novellaSell Out, which was published by The New Yorker back in 2013. The movie stars Seth Rogen as Herschel Greenbaum, a struggling laborer who immigrates to America in 1920 with dreams of building a better life for his beloved family. One day, while working at his factory job,he falls into a vat of picklesand is brined for 100 years. The brine preserves him perfectly and when he emerges in present-day Brooklyn, he finds that he hasn’t aged a day. But when he seeks out his family, he is troubled to learn that his only surviving relative is his great-grandson, Ben Greenbaum, also played by Rogen because of course he is, a mild-mannered computer coder whom Herschel can’t even begin to understand.
It all sounds like a very Rogen-appropriate take on the classic fish out of water story and no doubt it will be filled with the elder Greenbaum taking advantage of the future and all of the adult-oriented wonders it brings.
An American Pickleis being directed by Brandon Trost, a relative newcomer to the directing game, but someone who has worked previously with Rogen as a cinematographer on the likes ofThis is the EndandBad Neighbors. Alongside Rogen in his dual lead roles, the movie stars Maya Erskine, Sarah Snook, Eliot Glazer, Jorma Taccone, Kalen Allen, Molly Evensen, Kevin O’Rourke, and Joanna Adler.
This is far from the first time that Seth Rogen has paired with Sony, with the filmmaker and the studio having had a prosperous relationship dating all the way back to 2007’s brilliant teen-comedySuperbad. They have also collaborated on several other much-loved comedies includingPineapple ExpressandThe Night Before, with their last collaboration taking place in 2016 with the highly unusual R-rated food-themed comedySausage Party. Sony is no doubt well aware of the kind of movies that Rogen likes to make, which bodes well for the offbeat idea ofAn American Pickleand suggests the movie won’t be shying away from peculiarity. This comes to us fromSeth Rogen’s Twitter account.
