As wonderful as it is to see comedian Mike Birbiglia's profile blow-up after his feature directorial debut, 2012's sleeper hit Sleepwalk With Me, the downside to witnessing the upheaval of supporting roles thrown to him in its wake is knowing it prevents him from getting behind the camera again, beyond a short film or two here-and-there. That's what one would have thought, at least, until today.
As it appears, not only has the actor/writer/director picked a follow-up project for his autobiographical first film, but the sophomore effort is already under production in New York City. Don't Think Twice, the new movie in question, is a new comedy he produces and writes in addition to directs, and it centers on a group of improv comedians who lose the lease to their home theater the same time one of their cast members joins the biggest sketch comedy show on TV. All of this leads to some bitter backstabbing and bitterness among friends who realize their careers may not be what they hope they'll be.
Variety revealed the news. While the synopsis doesn't necessarily sound like a crowdpleaser, Birbiglia already proved himself adapt at switching tones and merging themes very successfully in the past. Expect something a little more thoughtful and poignant to come from the filmmaker with this new feature then a couple of yuks. At one point in time, Birbiglia mentioned having his other hit Off Broadway show, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, be his next creative endeavor, but it's uncertain where that film stands at the moment.
Just like he did with Sleepwalk with Me, Birbiglia leads the charge in front of the camera as much as he does behind it with Don't Think Twice, as he's also slated to frontline the new movie. He's proven himself more as an actor of late with his recent turns in Trainwreck, The Fault in Our Stars and on the latest season of Orange is the New Black, just to name a few, but in case he's somehow gets intimated by the spotlight, he's also got a fine line-up of players behind the camera to feed him support. Specifically, Keegan-Michael Key and Gillian Jacobs co-star with the director, as do Kate Micucci, Tami Sagher and Chris Gethard.
This American Life personality Ira Glass played a huge factor in Birbiglia's last feature, helping pen and produce Sleepwalk with Me and using his radio wiz to build up its profile, and thankfully he's not disappear from the scene this time either. He serves as an executive producer again, as do Film Arcade's J. Beck and Andy Bohn, while Cold Iron Pictures' Miranda Bailey and Amanda Marshall join the director/star as producers.
It would have to be a very quick turnaround, but don't roll out the possibility of Birbiglia whipping this one in shape for next year's Sundance, especially considering how successful he was there last time, having won the Best of Next Audience Award for his debut. Time will tell, however. In the meantime, as an actor, he can currently be seen in Digging For Fire, in theaters and on VOD now, and also recently starred in Hot Pursuit and Adult Beginners, in addition to the other recent films and TV shows previously mentioned.
Image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com