Seth Rogen is a man with a dream in the first trailer for AN AMERICAN PICKLE, based on the 2013 short story "Sell Out" by Simon Rich.
Rich also takes on scripting duties for the comedy film directed by Brandon Trost. AN AMERICAN PICKLE will serve as the first original film for the streaming service HBO Max, which launched on May 27, 2020. In the film, Seth Rogen plays "Herschel Greenbaum, a struggling laborer who immigrates to America in 1920 with dreams of building a better life for his beloved family. One day, while working at his factory job, he falls into a vat of pickles and is brined for 100 years. The brine preserves him perfectly and when he emerges in present-day Brooklyn, he finds that he hasn’t aged a day. But when he seeks out his family, he is horrified to learn that his only surviving relative is his great-grandson, Ben Greenbaum, a mild-mannered computer coder whom Herschel can’t even begin to understand. The film also stars Maya Erskine, Sarah Snook, Eliot Glazer, Kalen Allen, Molly Evensen, and Kevin O’Rourke.
The premise certainly sounds interesting and right up Seth Rogen's alley honestly. The rights for Rich's short story were snatched up by Sony Pictures back in 2013 and principal photography finally began on the project beginning in October of 2018. The film wrapped in December of 2018 and Sony was set to open the movie later this year but the COVID-19 pandemic had them shift a number of their films into 2021. Since this is a smaller, mid-tier project, it was shifted to a streaming option with the studio selling the project off to HBO Max.
Will YOU be checking out AN AMERICAN PICKLE? The film hits HBO Max on August 6, 2020.