A little film called Diary of a Wimpy Kid came out of left field earlier this year and cold cocked the film industry by garnering generally positive reviews and making $64 million on a $15 million investment. SHOCKING! And you know what? It was actually a really fun kid's movie, even if you're a 26 year old clinging to the last remaining vestiges of his youth (AKA this guy).
The film was spawned from a young adult book series of the same title and THR made my day today when they announced that a sequel is in the works. Being put together at the same budget as its predecessor, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules will again follow the outcast middle school antics of Greg Heffley, but will center around his battles with his older brother rather than the warfare that is 7th grade.
Animation director David Bowers has been tapped to make his live-action debut on the piece. His previous efforts gave us the forgettable Flushed Away and the feature adaptation of the long time comic centerpiece Astroboy. That resume isn't long or impressive, but Wimpy will be an easy jump into live-action since all he really needs to do is tell kids to go be kids and then point a camera at them.
On deck to return already is most of the Heffley family, Zachary Gordon, Steve Zahn and Rachel Harris, with Devon Bostick surely chomping at the bit to reprise his role as Rodrick. The real question is whether or not Greg Heffley's two best friends, Rowley and Fregley, played by Robert Capron and Grayson Russell respectively, will return. This was a gelled team of young but completely lovable child actors and their antics are what made the film. They're at that age where they could have already grown out of their roles even just from last year, but with all hope they'll be just as nerdy and late blooming as their big screen counterparts and will be returning as well. Not to mention my current unhealthy obsession Chloe Grace Moretz, who played the young but super mature Angie Steadman.
Now that I'm done talking this movie up, the film is looking for an August start date putting its release around the same time in 2011. Keep an eye out, and check out the original when it hits DVDs in August.
