Jason Segel: From ‘Sarah Marshall’ to Swift

Last time we saw Jason Segel, he was pathetically stripped to his skivvies—OK, fine—absolutely threadbare, and desperately humiliating himself for love of a girl. That was the reckless and comic, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” which Segel wrote and Judd Apatow produced, and qualifies as a brand of movie-making that has earned a cult following and re-defined slacker syndrome for the 21st century. Which makes it all the more interesting that Segel is in talks to star in “Gulliver’s Travels” the classic epic satire by Jonathan Swift. More expectantly perhaps, is that this “modern re-imagining” will star Jack Black as Gulliver, in what can only be a surefire spoof, and Segel as Horatio, his Lilliputian sidekick. Emily Blunt, the sassy brunette from “The Devil Wears Prada” will spice things up as Horatio’s love interest.

The move to literary adaptation may require more sophisticated humor from Segel and will likely expand his fan pool, but I wonder if it’s a far enough break from his usual style to illuminate a deeper talent—that is, if there is one.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Jason Segel is in negotiations and Emily Blunt has been offered to sign up for “Gulliver’s Travels,” Fox’s Jack Black-starring modern re-imagining of Jonathan Swift’s classic tale.

Rob Letterman is directing the story of free-spirited travel writer Lemuel Gulliver (Black), who on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput, home to a population of industrious yet tiny people.

Blunt would play the island’s princess and the love interest of Horatio, Segel’s character, a Lilliputian who befriends Gulliver.

Nicholas Stoller, who directed Segel in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” wrote the screenplay with Joe Stillman.
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Segel, one of the stars of CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother,” next appears on the big screen with Paul Rudd in John Hamburg’s “I Love You Man.” He is repped by Endeavor and Abrams Entertainment.