Focus Features has greenlit “Old Friends New Friends,” a new comedy from writer-director Mike Birbiglia. Birbiglia will also produce the movie alongside Jacob Jaffke and Joe Hartwick for Oddball Entertainment.
Birbiglia’s latest is set to star Lucas Hedges, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Geraldine Viswanathan and Dylan Gelula.
The official logline for “Old Friends New Friends” reads: “When a tight-knit group of college friends travels to a summer camp for their old friend’s wedding, they discover he’s built a new life – with new friends – forcing them to confront what they’ve lost, who they’ve become and whether growing up means growing apart.”
Birbiglia, an Emmy-nominated comedian, has performed solo shows around the world and has written and directed two previous features — 2012’s “Sleepwalk With Me” (which was based on his own autobiographical one-man show and subsequent book) and 2016’s “Don’t Think Twice.” He’s also appeared in features like “Trainwreck” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” (he’s also set to appear in Judd Apatow’s Glen Powell-led “The Comeback King” next year) and television series including “Orange Is the New Black” and “Billions.” Additionally, he’s done four comedy specials for Netflix, including “The Good Life” from last year.
Focus is having a very good year, with its horror sensation “Obsession” topping $500 million, which was enough to make it the label’s most successful movie ever by hundreds of millions of dollars. Upcoming movies include Paul Greengrass’ period action movie “The Uprising,” a new version of “Sense and Sensibility” and Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu” follow-up “Werwulf.”
Birbiglia is represented by UTA and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham. Hedges is represented by Untitled Entertainment and Brecheen Feldman Breimer Silver Thompson. Schwarzenegger is represented by UTA, Entertainment 360 and Patrick Knapp at Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. Viswanathan is represented by WME, Entertainment 360, Mollison Keightley Management and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Gelula is represented by Mosaic, Gersh, Michael Auerbach at Jackoway Austen Tyerman and Shelter PR. Oddball Entertainment is represented by CAA and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.
