Judd Apatow to direct Cola Wars with Steven Spielberg producing

Judd Apatow and Steven Spielberg are to team up for 'Cola Wars'.

The 'Knocked Up' filmmaker is to direct the movie about Pepsi's attempts to challenge Coca-Cola during the 1980s with the legendary 'Jaws' helmer on board as a producer through his Amblin Entertainment company.

The movie delves into the Cola Wars as Pepsi tried to challenge Coca-Cola's long reign as the world's top cola with key events including Michael Jackson's hair being set on fire when a stunt for a Pepsi advert went awry in 1984 as well as Coca-Cola's disastrous introduction of 'New Coke' the following year.

'Cola Wars' is in development at Sony and is being written by Jason Shuman and Ben Queen and it is thought to be similar to the film 'Air', which was directed by Ben Affleck and told the story of how Nike were able to transform their fortunes through a shoe deal with basketball icon Michael Jordan.

Apatow's recent movies 'The King of Staten Island' and 'The Bubble' have been released on streaming platforms but he is hopeful that the comedy genre can experience a revival in cinemas following the difficulties posed by the pandemic.

The 56-year-old director told Vulture: "I assume it'll swing back.

"The industry does follow the leader... for comedy, it just requires another hit or two. If a movie like 'The Hangover' came out and it was a big hit, suddenly everyone would want five more of those."

Judd added: "Here's the thing that most people don't understand because they're not in any of those executive suites: There's a hit and then they just go, 'Oh, people like that. Make more like that.' The thinking is not deeper than that.

"They will just chase anything that does well because people generally are averse to risk-taking."