John Cena and Kumail Nanjiani are attached to star in a buddy cop movie that will be directed by Ruben Fleischer, the Tracking Board has confirmed.
Universal won the project in a competitive situation that saw multiple studios pursue the project, which hails from screenwriter Murray Miller (HBO’s Girls). Fleischer and David Bernad will produce under their company The District, whose Elias Gertler will oversee the project along with Universal executive Erik Baiers.
To be honest, I love the idea of this comic pairing, particularly within this genre, which is overdue for a gamechanger. Now, I don’t know what the premise is behind the project, but I do know that Nanjiani is about to become a major star in the wake of The Big Sick and his ongoing work on HBO’s Silicon Valley.
Meanwhile, Cena has demonstrated strong comic chops in Trainwreck and Sisters, and Universal is already banking on Cera in another upcoming comedy — The Pact. Cena also recently starred in HBO’s mockumentary Tour De Pharmacy, which was written by Miller and produced by Bernad, so he has a certain rapport with these filmmakers.
It’s also important to note that thus far, Fleischer has done his best work in the action comedy genre thanks to Zombieland. He’s currently prepping the Venom movie starring Tom Hardy and Riz Ahmed.
