I am – Hercules!!
John Francis Daley, who played Sam Weir in Judd Apatow’s TV series “Freaks and Geeks” long before he wound up as Dr. Lance Sweets on “Bones,” is one of the two writers just hired by New Line to write the latest “Vacation” movie.
The new “Vacation” is expected to see Chevy Chase reprise his role as Clark Griswold, but focus on Clark’s now-grown son Rusty and Rusty’s brood.
No word on Randy Quaid’s Cousin Eddie.
Though Chase and Beverly D’Angelo have remained constants throughout the series, Rusty has been played by a different actor in each of the four prior movies: Anthony Michael Hall (“The Dark Knight”), Jason Lively (“Rock ‘n’ Roll High School Forever”), Johnny Galecki (“The Big Bang Theory”) and Ethan Embry (“Eagle Eye”). Travis Greer plays Rusty in the new HomeAway.com ad above.
Daley and his writing partner, Jonathan Goldstein, have been hired to script several big-screen projects over the last few years – including “The $40,000 Man,” “Horrible Bosses,” “Burt Wonderstone” and “Cal of the Wild” – though none of these has yet found its way before cameras. Other "Freaks and Geeks" actors who have gone on to script movies include Seth Rogen ("Knocked Up"), Jason Segal ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall") and Mike White ("School of Rock").
The best news to me, perhaps, is somebody told Variety that the new “Vacation” will better resemble John Hughes' “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” than any of the prior, Hughes-scripted “Vacation” films. Whether or not that means Grandpa Clark will pee on sandwiches remains to be seen.
Find all of Variety’s story on the matter here.
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