If Mike Judge gave up on Hollywood and never made another movie, I wouldn’t blame him. He’s put together two amazing, brilliant comedies already, and been utterly screwed over on both of them. I don’t know how the guy gets out of bed in the morning, let alone find enough energy make yet another cult classic. Judge though, has another one in him.
Variety says Judge has escaped from under the oppressive thumb of 20th Century Fox, where he was screwed over on both Office Space and Idiocracy, to set a new comedy up over at Miramax. The movie is called Extract, and it's about a flower-extract factory owner dealing with job problems, a cheating wife, and in general a string of really bad luck. Jason Bateman, who seems tailor-made for Judge’s comedic sensibilities, is set to star as the factory owner. Ben Affleck has just signed on to play an ambulance chasing lawyer, and Clifton Collins Jr. is on board as his client, a factory worker who loses a limb in a freak accident. Involved somewhere along the way will also be Mila Kunis, who stole scenes in Forgetting Sarah Marshall earlier this year, and overrated because she’s not frighteningly hideous SNL cast member Kristen Wiig.
At least with Ben Affleck involved to throw some star power his way, maybe Mike Judge can avoid having this movie undeservedly buried like his first two efforts. Too, he’s a lot better off at a smaller distributor like Miramax, where maybe he’ll have a fighting chance to make movies that people will actually be allowed to see. He’s both writing, directing, and producing Extract, and that makes it a must watch, no matter how Judge ends up being treated. Miramax can’t possibly screw this up worse than Fox.
