Jason Batmean Casts the Funny in BAD WORDS

UPDATE: How to you spell success? Jason Bateman is casting reliably funny actors in his directorial debut Bad Words about a grown man who finds a loophole to compete in the National Quill Spelling bee. Bateman's Juno castmate Allison Janney (she played Juno's stepmom) to play the outraged director of the spelling bee and Phillip Baker Hall (Mr. Popper's Penguins; he also played next door neighbor Walt on "Modern Family") will play the head of the spelling bee group. Rohan Chand, who played Adam Sandler's son in Jack and Jill, will play the socially awkward spelling bee contestant who befriends Bateman's character. Ben Falcone, who drew a lot of attention for being hilarious at playing the straight man to (real life wife) Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids, and Kathryn Hahn ("Parks and Recreation") are also in the cast. Filming begins this week in Los Angeles.

Source: Deadline

Jason Bateman (Juno, Couple's Retreat) will star in, produce and make his feature film directorial debut with the indie comedy Bad Words. It's about a bitter 30something guy who finds a loophold enabling him to enter a national kids spelling bee. Bateman has directed episodes of TV shows he starred in: "Arrested Development" and "Valerie's Family" as well as "Family Matters" (that's the one with Urkel...Jason Bateman has been in the biz for a very long time). The script by rookie writer Andrew Dodge was on last year's Black List, which compiles the best unproduced scripts. Bateman will produce through his company Aggregate Films along with Darko Entertainment, which is financing.

Bateman is currently filming Identity Thief with Melissa McCarthy. Also on the docket is the "Arrested Development" movie.

Source: Variety