Jack Black Drops Biblical ‘Year One’ Bomb in ‘Be Kind Rewind’ Interview

CHICAGO – Though actors aren’t supposed to chat it up about their other films when they’re being interviewed specifically for one, every now and then they do and the focus of the interview changes entirely. When Collider.com on Saturday published an interview with Jack Black about his Feb. 22 film “Be Kind Rewind,” details willingly slipped about his upcoming film “Year One”.

Mos Def (left) and Jack Black in “Be Kind Rewind”. Photo credit: IMDb

Though the particulars of that project have been kept quietly sacred and despite the ongoing writer’s strike, we learn the following about “Year One”:

“Year One” is a biblical comedy. It’s about the Old Testament. I’m just a dude wandering through biblical times. I’m not a famous character … you would have heard of before. Me and Michael Cera are just sort of wandering through and you get to see all these old stories from the Torah told through agnostic – sort of – eyes.

The talent in the film feels partially “Superbad” as it features both Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse along with Jack Black and Oliver Platt. The film is directed and written by Chicago native Harold Ramis (“Ghostbusters,” “Caddyshack”) and produced by Judd Apatow (also a producer for “Superbad” and Knocked Up). /Film wrote about the interview:

It appears we might have a new controversial comedy that takes aim at religion (i.e. Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”), which may explain why details have been kept hush-hush.

Black also confirmed that the script was finished before the [WGA strike started] and the project is plowing ahead without the constant rewrites that he is accustomed to. “Year One” is scheduled to hit theaters on June 19, 2009.

A video segment from the Collider.com interview can be seen here. MTV published a very brief video clip from an “Year One” interview with Black back on Dec. 10, 2007. I’ve embedded it below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN Editor-in-Chief HollywoodChicago.com adam@hollywoodchicago.com