Johnny Knoxville: JACKASS STAR BREAKING NEWS
Johnny Knoxville and Patton Oswalt have signed on to co-star in Todd Rohal’s latest, an outlandish yet poignant comedy about a pair of battling brothers who attempt to honor their ailing father by taking a troop of boys on a last ditch camping trip that goes wildly wrong. The film marks the first time comedic foils Knoxville and Oswalt will be sharing the big screen. Joining the team for the ensemble comedy are Rob Riggle, Maura Tierney & Patrice O’Neal.
The still untitled film is written and will be directed by emerging comedic auteur Todd Rohal, hot on the heels of the Sundance success of his second feature film, THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM. The film, which is loosely based on Rohal’s experiences growing up, begins production this week.
The film is being financed by Marc Turtletaub’s and Peter Saraf’s Big Beach Films. Turtletaub, Saraf and Lisa Muskat are producing, David Gordon Green is executive producing, and Michael Clark and John Hodges will oversee production for Big Beach.
“Todd looks at the world through a different set of lenses than the rest of us, and yet his vision managers to be simultaneously unique and universal,” Saraf said. “I think that’s because his humor, while twisted at times, is fundamentally compassionate and truthful. The combination of Todd with this hilariously amazing cast is going to make for an exciting ride, and we’re tightening our seatbelts.”
After co-creating the massively successful “Jackass” franchise (which ultimately spawned three theatrical films) in 2000, Knoxville has starred in a number of feature films, including MEN IN BLACK II, LORDS OF DOGTOWN, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, THE RINGER, WALKING TALL and John Waters’ A DIRTY SHAME. Knoxville’s production company, Dickhouse Productions, which he co-owned with Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine, has produced all iterations of “Jackass,” as well as the acclaimed documentaries THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA and THE BIRTH OF BIG AIR.
Widely regarded as one of the best and most transgressive stand-up comedians of the last decade, Oswalt has released four hit comedy albums, the last of which, “My Weakness is Strong” in 2009, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Small roles in Paul Thomas Anderson’s MAGNOLIA, Milos Forman’s MAN ON THE MOON and Todd Phillips’ STARSKY & HUTCH led to Oswalt’s breakout leading roles as the voice of Remy in the hit Pixar film RATATOUILLE and Robert Siegel’s acclaimed Sundance drama BIG FAN, for which Oswalt received a Gotham Award nomination for Breakthrough performance. For the last three seasons, Oswalt starred on Showtime’s Emmy-nominated “The United States of Tara.” This Fall, he will appear in A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS and Jason Reitman’s YOUNG ADULT with Charlize Theron and Patrick Wilson. His latest one-hour special “Finest Hour” debuts on Showtime on September 5th, with the CD/audio available September 20th on Comedy Central Records.
Big Beach is one of the leading indie film production companies. The Weinstein Company is releasing the Big Beach-produced OUR IDIOT BROTHER across the country on August 26th.
Todd Rohal, Johnny Knoxville and Patton Oswald are repped by CAA. Patton is managed by Generate and Knoxville is managed by 3 Arts.
ABOUT TODD ROHAL
Todd Rohal wrote and directed The Guatemalan Handshake in 2006, which he theatrically self-distributed around the world with a single 35mm print. He participated in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s lab in 2009 and has collaborated on music videos and DVD projects with filmmakers Cory McAbee, Jeff Krulik and the band Ola Podrida.
Todd’s latest film, THE CATECHISM CATCALYSM, an absurdist buddy movie about a disillusioned priest, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and is being released theatrically by IFC Films in October 2011.
