Screen Gems is clear to go forward with the title Friends with Benefits for its new comedy starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, the studio confirms. Screen Gems was waiting for Paramount Pictures to drop their protest on the title — Paramount is currently in production with director Ivan Reitman on a film with the same title. (The studio did drop their complaint Thursday.) Now Friends With Benefits will begin production in July in New York and Los Angeles.
But to complicate matters, NBC is planning a Friends with Benefits sitcom as a mid-season replacement. It comes from 500 Days of Summer screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber and centers on five friends looking for love but settling for “friends with benefits” instead. The duo is executive producing along with David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers). Considering the show doesn’t yet have a concrete air date, there is no real confusion yet in the marketplace. But a heated battle may come sooner than later. An NBC spokesperson tells EW.com that the series title is locked and they are expecting the feature to change its name. Screen Gems contends that due to its production schedule, they don’t expect an issue to arise.
In Hollywood, title protests usually occur on most films, with studios competing for similar phrases and words to use in the titles of their own projects. Titles are approved once the other studios drop their protests. That usually happens once it’s determined who first registered the title with the MPAA. The project’s registration was filed back in 2003, the first to do so. Proof of intent to make the film is also required. (That includes a start date, a full cast, and a director hired on to the project.)
The Reitman film, which was originally titled F*** Buddies and was only changed to Friends with Benefits due to the obvious limitations the original title held, will now be given a third name for the marketplace. It’s currently in production with Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman and Kevin Kline. Based on a Black List script from Liz Meriwether, the R-rated comedy deals with a friendship turned sexual, but in this case, Portman’s character is calling the shots, while Kutcher is hopelessly in love with her.
In contrast, Friends with Benefits, also about a couple whose friendship turns sexual, centers on two friends who meet through business. Both are extremely tired of the dating world and agree to start sleeping together, swearing off any emotional attachment. Will Gluck (the upcoming Easy A) will direct.
Lynette Rice contributed to this report.
I don’t want to be a Negative Nancy, but why is Hollywood still casting Justin Timberlake in movies? He has never been a big box office draw.
Sara, if you were to write the same post, but replace JT with Ashton Kutcher, then I would agree. At least JT has talent, unlike AK.
Neither of them have talent for movies. Both should stick to TV.
nowadays, tv shows often have better storytelling than movies. so, no, i don’t want either of them to stunk up my TV, thankyouverymuch.
i also don’t get all the fuzz with the phrase “friends with benefits”??? i get it, they’re friends and they have sex, and they’re trying not to let their feelings complicated things, but that’s usually what ended up happening…because guess what, human brains are wired to associate sex and emotion, they activate the same part of our brains. so there you have it, another cookie cutter romantic comedy.
Sara,
How many movies has Timberlake even done? To tell Hollywood to stop casting him after a handful of movies is a bit ridiculous. And out of the few movies he’s done, how many were expected to be blockbusters anyway? I’m not trying to defend the guy or anything, but it seems that you have a grudge against him for some reason.
Really Sara? There are three new productions with the exactly same tired old premise and you’re whining about Timberlake?
Emma, it was my first thought to write about the plot redundancies, but don’t you think it’s already obvious? What else is the point of the article?
All I know is they could at LEAST found 2 better looking people.
I mean, come on. Why would I want to see 2 hideous monstrosities like Timberlake & Kunis doing it?
Ha.
and why on earth did natalie portman agree to do a movie with ashton kutcher
If you don’t like Timberlake, Kunis and Kutcher that’s fine…but I do. They’re all at least good to look at and are good in light romantic comedies that many of us like. At least I don’t have to deal with those awful reality show people. Talk about Ugh…….