Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron join forces in the trailer for the comedy Long Shot. Obviously, of the pair, Rogen is the one who’s typically associated more with comedies, specifically of the raunchy variety like the Neighbors movies or Sausage Party. At the same time, Theron’s far from a strange to the genre herself. In fact, the Oscar-winner’s got a number of dark comedies under her belt already, thanks to films like Young Adult, Gringo, and Tully. She’s also appeared in broader offerings before, most notably with Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West.

Theron stars in Long Shot as Charlotte Field, the current U.S. Secretary of State and a legitimate candidate to become the country’s president. However, her life takes a turn for the unexpected when Charlotte is reunited with Fred Flarsky (Rogen), an unemployed journalist whom she used to babysit back when he was a kid. The pair thereafter begin a courtship that puts Charlotte’s political ambitions in danger, thanks in no small amount to Fred’s tendency to sabotage his own life - among other reasons, as the film’s marketing pokes fun at.

Lionsgate has released the official Long Shot trailer online, ahead of the preview’s debut in theaters. The film was written by Liz Hannah (The Post) and Dan Sterling (The Office), and reunites Rogen with his 50/50 and The Night Before director Jonathan Levine. Meanwhile, Rogen and Theron are joined in the film’s cast by O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton), June Diane Raphael (Blockers), Andy Serkis (Black Panther), Ravi Patel (Grandfathered), and Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul).

While he didn’t have a hand in writing it (unlike a lot of his films), Long Shot definitely feels like a natural progression of Rogen’s ongoing series of broad comedies about characters who’re still struggling to master the art of being a responsible adult. Part of the actor’s continuing success can be attributed to the way his movies have matured as he’s aged, yet still found room for self-deprecating jokes about Rogen’s appearance or gags involving people getting high or stoned on weed. Based on the trailer, that will remain the case with Long Shot, even as the film incorporates more satirical humor about U.S. politics and the challenges of being a woman vying for the presidency (or any position of power, for that matter). There are also some rom-com elements at play here, which only further separates Long Shot from Rogen and/or Theron’s previous comedies.

At the moment, Lionsgate has Long Shot scheduled to hit theaters near the start of May - or, rather, a week after Avengers: Endgame. Still, competition for the comedy crowd will be thin at that point, so the former shouldn’t have much trouble carving out a decent-sized slice of box office pie for itself. Levine’s got a pretty reliable track record as a director too (save for his misfire with 2017’s Snatched) and the trailer has some promising jokes, which further bodes well for the film’s quality. We’ll have a better idea of what to expect from Long Shot soon, following its premiere at SXSW 2019 next month.

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Source: Lionsgate

  • Long Shot Release Date: 2019-05-03