If you’ve been following The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, you’ve known that one third of The Lonely Island, Jorma Taccone, has been absent for the last few weeks while shooting a movie in Finland. Details of that movie have finally been announced.
Taccone will direct “The Trip,” a thriller and comedy film that stars Jason Segel, Samara Weaving, Juliette Lewis, and Timothy Olyphant, it was announced on Tuesday, November 19. Filming is currently taking place in Tampere, Finland and has been ongoing since October 23. Paul Guilfoyle and Keith Jardine also co-star.
This is Taccone’s first feature behind the camera since 2016’s “Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping,” which he co-directed with Akiva Schaffer. For this one he’ll partner with the team behind “The Fall Guy,” David Leitch and Kelly McCormick’s 87North production banner, and XYZ Films.
No distributor is attached for the film.
“The Trip” (not to be confused with the Steve Coogan/Rob Brydon comedy film trilogy) follows a dysfunctional couple (Segel and Weaving) who head to a remote cabin to “reconnect,” each of whom has secret intentions to kill the other.
It is however based on a Norwegian thriller and comedy of the same name, 2021’s “I Onde Dager,” which starred Noomi Rapace and Aksel Hennie. That film was directed by Tommy Wirkola, who is an executive producer on the English-language remake along with Taccone.
Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney adapted the script from the original story by Wirkola, John Niven, and Nick Ball.
XYZ is financing the film and producing alongside 87North’s Kelly McCormick, Lee Kim, and Guy Danella. Karen Gillan is co-producing. Jørgen Storm Rosenberg and Kjetil Omberg, who produced the Norwegian film, are executive producers on the remake.
“I can’t wait to see Jorma bring his totally singular sensibility to the material,” said Wirkola. “That, combined with this killer cast, makes me beyond excited that this film will truly stand out in the cinematic landscape.”
“I’m a huge fan of Tommy’s work and I love the original film. I have a totally singular sensibility, and I can’t wait to see what I bring to the material,” Taccone said in a statement.
Taccone made his feature debut on the SNL spinoff film “MacGruber” from 2010, and he also directed several episodes of the “MacGruber” TV series. He’s spent the year recapping every SNL Digital Short The Lonely Island made during their time on the show alongside Andy Samberg, Seth Meyers, and Schaffer.
Segel currently stars on “Shrinking” and is a co-writer on the series, now in its second season on Apple TV+. Weaving most recently starred in “Borderline” and is known for her work in the horror-thriller “Ready or Not.” Olyphant, who made a guest appearance on Taccone’s podcast, will next be seen in the FX series “Alien: Earth” and the Netflix thriller “Havoc.” Lewis has most recently appeared in Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” and was nominated for an Emmy for her work in “Welcome to Chippendales.”
Segel is represented by UTA, Ocean Avenue and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Weaving is represented by CAA, 111 Media and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Olyphant is represented by UTA. Lewis is represented by UTA, Untitled Entertainment and The Oriel Company. Guilfoyle is represented by Innovative Artists and Authentic Talent and Literary Management. Taccone is represented by UTA and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
