As we all already know, Judd Apatow is taking the characters created by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann in Knocked Up and giving them their own story. Now, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that negotiations are happening for Megan Fox to join the cast in some capacity. What exactly that capacity is, is still a production secret, but the typecasting options aren’t really numerous. She could play a sexy temptress for Paul Rudd to get sexily tempted by, she could play a slutty babysitter for Paul Rudd to be tempted by, or she could play a rocket scientist teaching philosophy at the local college who acts as a stirring mentor figure who dispenses wisdom just at the right moment. In all honesty, and without sarcasm, the big question is whether Megan Fox can do character-based comedy. She made fun of herself in a Funny or Die video a while back, but that doesn’t exactly translate to playing a role with some of the best comedic improvisers in the business. The apathetic smugness of her line delivery in every other flick she’s in doesn’t seem like it works for comedy. Unless she takes it over the top. That’s it. She can play a ridiculously apathetic rocket scientist.

Somewhere out there is a movie called Rio about a bird who’s afraid to fly. You’ve probably seen the commercials for it and bristled at George Lopez’s voice. Somewhere in the same universe, DisneyToon Studios is planning a spin-off of Cars called Planes about a, get this, plane that’s afraid to fly. His name is Dusty, and he’s going to prove everyone wrong by entering a race that goes around the world. A spin-off with a propeller. Fancy that. The project isn’t brand new, but it’s news that it won’t be a direct-to project. It’s getting the full theatrical release. According to JoBlo, the press release also says absolutely nothing about Pixar. In a way, that makes sense. Pixar is incredibly picky about their projects, so it stands to reason that if they didn’t want to take on this project, Disney wanted to for the sheer marketability of it. In the meantime, we’ll be thinking of more movies about things that are afraid to fly and counting the days until Trains gets announced. Hopefully it’ll be soon.

Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann have been on board with Judd Apatow for a new film for a while. Fortunately, it sounds like they’ll both be starring, and they’ll be tackling their Knocked Up characters again. According to Apatow, “people really responded to their characters and problems.  I felt like there was a lot of ground I could explore with them.” That’s absolutely true. Great chemistry and great takes on what married life really means. This means that Apatow is definitely not done exploring his favorite theme, and that it’s unclear whether this film will be heavier on comedy or on heartbreak. It also leaves the question open of whether Katherine Heigl will be back since her character was Mann’s character’s sister. And if Heigl’s back, wouldn’t Seth Rogen be back? And then wouldn’t it be a sequel to Knocked Up essentially? [HitFix]

Well, it’s official. The Gossip Girl spin off, Valley Girl/Lily, is dead in the water with no hope of revival any time soon.

How do you make a spin-off that doesn’t have any characters from the main show? Set it before they were born. We can only hope Patrick Bateman shows up to set those kids straight.