Jason Bateman is a lifetime member of Hollywood. At the age of 12 he was playing James Cooper Ingalls on Little House on The Prairie, in his teens he made movies like Teen Wolf Too (not the highlight of his career) and now in adulthood he's starring in blockbuster comedies and was the lead character on one of the most beloved shows of all time: Arrested Development. One area that he has never explored, however, is feature directing. Though he actually holds the record as the Directors Guild of America's youngest ever member, since he directed an episode of Valerie's Family when he was 20, he has never gotten into the chair for a movie. That's about to change.
Variety says that Bateman is set to make his directorial debut on an indie comedy called Bad Words. While nothing has been confirmed, there are also whispers that the actor/director will star as well. If he does choose to play the part, he will be a "bitter thirtysomething" who discovers a loophole in a national spelling bee's rulebook and exploits it by entering himself. Bateman's company, DumbDumb, which he owns with Arrested Development co-star Will Arnett, will produce the movie and Darko Entertainment will finance the project. The script was written by newcomer Andrew Dodge, but it's a hot property as it was featured on the 2011 Black List (an annual list of the most popular unproduced screenplays in Hollywood).
Bateman ended up directing three episodes of Valerie's Family, but also also on series like Family Matters, Two of a Kind, For Your Love, and even Arrested Development. He is currently in production on the comedy Identity Thief with Melissa McCarthy and will next be seen in Peter Glanz's The Longest Week.
