Judd Apatow’s Next Film…a ‘Knocked Up’ Spin-Off?!?

Well, this certainly wasn’t expected.

Despite his name being attached to four or five films a year as a producer, Judd Apatow has only directed three films (The 40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People). The first two were huge hits, and the third was disappointing both critically and commercially. Universal has announced that Apatow‘s next directorial effort will return to familiar ground — it will be a spin-off of Knocked Up, Apatow‘s highest grossing film that he’s directed. Hit “more” to find out why this film is a spin-off and not a sequel, and who will be returning for the film!

The as-yet-untitled film will star Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd reprising their roles from Knocked Up. Mann, if you remember, played star Katherine Heigl‘s sister, though there’s no word if either Heigl or Seth Rogen would return for the spin-off in any capacity — Rogen is an Apatow favorite and has appeared in all of Apatow‘s directed films. As for Heigl some of you may remember he very publicly criticizing Knocked Up as being “a little sexist.” Rudd is another Apatow favorite — he appeared in both 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up — and Leslie Mann has been in all of Apatow‘s films and is definitely one of his favorites, since, you know, she’s married to him and all. It’s likely that whatever the film is about it will feature a host of the Apatow gang as both cast members and cameos.

The film is set for a June 1, 2012 release, but there are no details on the plot of the film. What would you like to see from these characters in the film, readers? Are you hoping that Rudd‘s character still has a thing for fantasy baseball?