New Girl's Jake Johnson lands next lead movie role
New Girl's Jake Johnson has landed the lead role in a comedy movie about pickleball.
According to Deadline, The Dink will star Johnson as a washed-up tennis pro who struggles to save a club in crisis. In order to help the club and earn his father's respect, he is forced to do something he swore he'd never do: play pickleball.
Directed by Josh Greenbaum, the comedy will feature The Proposal's Mary Steenburgen, Westworld's Ed Harris, Ben Stiller and former tennis champion Andy Roddick.
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Stiller and John Lesher will produce the movie through their company Red Hour Films, alongside Rivulet Films' Rob Paris and Mike Witherill. Johnson will also serve as a producer.
Filming is set to begin this November in Los Angeles with a release date yet to be announced.
Elsewhere, Johnson's comedy thriller Self Reliance recently landed on streaming service Paramount+ in the UK. The movie, which was written by and stars Johnson, is also the actor's feature length directorial debut.
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Self Reliance follows Tommy, a middle-aged man who takes part in a game to win a million dollars on a dark web reality TV show.
Tommy must try to survive for 30 days whilst being hunted by a group of assassins from all over the world. He soon finds a loophole that reveals he can only be attacked when alone.
When he finds another player (Anna Kendrick), the pair decide to spend every moment together in order to survive the twisted game and win the prize, growing closer in the process.
Self Reliance also stars Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Andy Samberg, Schitt's Creek's Emily Hampshire, Dead to Me's Natalie Morales and Back to the Future icon Christopher Lloyd.
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