Christina Applegate in talks to star in ‘Vacation’ reboot/sequel with Ed Helms

New Line is working on a reboot/sequel to Vacation, the popular comedy franchise that starred Chevy Chase. The new film will star Ed Helms, whose leading lady could be Christina Applegate.

Both The Hollywood Reporter and Variety reported this afternoon that Applegate is in talks with the studio to join the film as Rusty Griswold’s wife. The new film will focus on Rusty’s own family and their misadventures during vacations.

The National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise kicked off in 1983 with the first film with Chase as the patriarch of the Griswolds. Anthony Michael Hall played Rusty in the first film, but Helms will take the role in the new project.

Vacation was written by John Hughes. This new version was written by the team behind Horrible Bosses, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who will also direct.

Applegate’s schedule has been cleared a bit, since she has dropped out of NBC’s Up All Night. That show still hasn’t officially been canceled, but considering that Will Arnett has also joined another project (a CBS pilot), it is over.

The actress is currently working on Anchorman: The Legend Continues, which hits theaters on Dec. 30. She hasn’t starred in a film since 2011’s Hall Pass.

The studio hopes to get production on Vacation started in the second quarter of 2013.

image: NBC