Before CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, 21 JUMP STREET and THE LEGO MOVIE, Phil Lord and Chris Miller created an animated series with Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Spin City) called Clone High. The comedy was set at a high school populated with clones of famous historical figures like Abe Lincoln and JFK, and ran on MTV for only one season back in 2002 and 2003.
Since then the show has developed a large following of fans, and in a new interview with Collider, Phil Lord and Chris Miller say they've been talking with Bill Lawrence about developing a Clone High movie, and they're having a little trouble figuring out if it should be rated R or PG-13.
Lord: It’s also a tricky thing because we basically made a PG-13 TV series, and if you’re gonna do a movie you wonder, ‘Am I gonna have to justify the budget that it’s gonna take by trying to broaden this to a family audience, and is that gonna kill what was fun about the original thing?’ Because there’s so much blood in the original series (laughs).
Miller: And innuendo or whatever.
Lord: And JFK sex jokes. Are you going to wind up defanging it?
Miller: Are you gonna make it R? PG-13?
Lord: It’s trying to cross-reference what it’s gonna cost and what it’s gonna make.
The duo go on to say they believe there is a market for R rated animated films, like Seth Rogen's upcoming SAUSAGE PARTY.
Miller: [Hard R-rated animated films] I think is a hole in the marketplace, because people love R-rated comedies and there’s teen boys that love all the Family Guy, Simpsons-type of shows. There’s a market there for that.
Lord: The Simpsons Movie was PG-13. It had male-frontal nudity in it.
Miller: South Park movie was R. There’s a place that people are not occupying thinking that animated has to be family always, and I don’t think that’s true. I think [Sausage Party] is gonna do great. Those guys are so funny and talented.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller are very in-demand right now because of 21 JUMP STREET and THE LEGO MOVIE, but I'm glad to see they're still interested in doing more with Clone High. I'm a huge fan of the series, and I have my fingers crossed we will be getting something new involving the silly clones. New episodes or a movie, it doesn't matter to me; I just want more Clone High.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller's 22 JUMP STREET will be in theaters on June 13, 2014.