Seth Rogen’s Next Projects, from Dumb Money to Mutant Ninja Turtles

While some of his jokes haven’t always aged well among some audiences, Seth Rogen, now 39, certainly has. The comedian has racked up hit after hit, starting with the cult favorite series “Freaks and Geeks” in 1999. After minor roles in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” to “The 40 Year-Old Virgin,” Rogen proved his leading man prowess with 2007’s “Knocked Up,” followed immediately by the critically acclaimed high-school comedy “Superbad.” Rogen’s affable straight-man persona continued in “Pineapple Express,” “This Is the End,” and “Neighbors,” with more dramatic roles including “50/50,” “Take This Waltz,” and “An American Pickle” adding to Rogen’s prolific and well-rounded career.

As for how some of his sometimes foul-mouthed, politically incorrect comedies have withstood the test of time, Rogen said on “Good Morning Britain” that it’s simply “the nature of comedy” for some humor, especially of his button-pushing variety, to curdle as time progresses (via Insider).

“I think conceptually those movies are sound and I think there’s a reason they’ve lasted as far as people still watching and enjoying them today,” Rogen noted. “Jokes are not things that necessarily are built to last.”

The writer, director, producer, and recent “Pam & Tommy” actor plans on expanding his production company Point Grey Pictures alongside writing and producing partner Evan Goldberg. The duo has a slew of projects in the works, ranging from animated TV shows to documentary features. Find out what’s next for Rogen below.

The original version of this article was published July 22, 2021.

“Dumb Money”

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Seth Rogen is set to star in “Dumb Money,” based on Ben Mezrich’s “The Antisocial Network” book sharing the GameStop short squeeze that changed Wall Street forever. “I, Tonya” director Craig Gillespie reunites with both “Pam & Tommy” stars Rogen and Sebastian Stan for the feature, with Pete Davidson, Paul Dano, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dane DeHaan, Shailene Woodley, and Anthony Ramos rounding out the cast.

“Dumb Money” will premiere in theaters October 20, 2023.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”

TMNT unite! Rogen produces and stars in an animated reboot of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” with Nickelodeon. Officially titled “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” the Jeff Rowe and Kyle Spears-directed film is set to hit theaters on August 4, 2023. Rogen’s “Neighbor: Sorority Rising” screenwriter Brendan O’Brien penned the script, and Paramount will be handling global distribution. Rogen tweeted hand-written notes on June 1, 2021 to announce the release date. “Leo takes notes like I used to,” he captioned. The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” franchise has grossed over $1.15 billion since 1990 with six films from three different studios.

The teaser reveals the stunning animation style, with Rogen reuniting with his “Neighbors” co-star Rose Byrne, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Post Malone, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Maya Rudolph for voice-acting.

The official synopsis reads: After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.
“Gen V”

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“Gen V,” the spin-off for Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” has been on the production fast track since the success of Season Two. Written by executive producer Craig Rosenberg, the spinoff is set in a superhero college run by the insidious Vought International corporation. The series is descibed as an “irreverent, R-rated series that explores the lives of hormonal, competitve Supes as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities,” via Deadline. Rogen’s Point Grey Pictures is executive-producing and Rogen confirmed the news with a September 24, 2020 tweet that “The Boys” cinematic universe is expanding. Actress Reina Hardesty was cast in the lead role in April 2021, with supporting stars Patrick Schwarzenegger, Shane Paul McGhie, Aimee Carrero, Maddie Phillips, Jaz Sinclair, and Lizzie Broadway also playing burgeoning Supes, as reported by Deadline. “The Boys” Season Three is currently in production at Amazon Prime Video after smashing the platform’s streaming numbers.
“Sausage Party: Foodtopia”

Seth Rogen is starring and executive producing in Amazon Prime Video series “Sausage Party: Foodtopia,” based off the 2016 film.

Returning actors Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, David Krumholtz, and Edward Norton lend their voices to the series, along with franchise newcomers Will Forte, Sam Richardson, Natasha Rothwell, and Yassir Lester joining the cast.

“Film used to be the superior art form to television, and we humbly reached the pinnacle of what can be achieved with film in our remarkable opus, ‘Sausage Party,'” Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg said in a press statement. “But now that film is completely dead and TV is the forever-king of entertainment, we’ve decided to continue the epic adventures of our culinary crew in the soon-to-be-legendary televised masterpiece ‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia.’ It’s got all the heart, double the puns, and triple the food-on-food sex. In other words, it’s exactly what the world needs right now.”
Two AppleTV+ Comedy Series

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Seth Rogen will write, direct, and star in a yet-untitled AppleTV+ comedy series, produced by Lionsgate. The series will focus on a legacy Hollywood movie studio trying to survive in a world where it is increasingly difficult for art and commerce to live together, per an official synopsis.

Rogen also is set to star in another AppleTV+ series, titled “Platonic,” opposite his “Neighbors” co-star Rose Byrne. The show is about two childhood friends who reconnect as adults after a falling out. “Neighbors,” “Bros,” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” writer Nick Stoller co-writes the show. “Bros” star Luke Macfarlane, Tre Hale, Carla Gallo, and Andrew Lopez also appear in the series produced by Sony Pictures Television.
“Cobweb” & “Video Nasty”

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Rogen is set to produce “Cobweb,” a new Lizzy Caplan horror flick about a boy who hears voices in his head and follows their advice to combat his abusive parents. Antony Starr, Cleopatra Coleman, and Woody Norman also star in the Lionsgate thriller, set in Bulgaria. According to Deadline, “Cobweb” starts with a young boy who “hears a mysterious tapping from inside the walls, and suspects his parents are hiding a terrible secret.” Norman potrays Peter, with Caplan and Starr as Peter’s parents. Starr is best known for playing Homelander in Amzon Prime Video’s “The Boys,” executive produced by Rogen.

“Cobweb” is just the first of many more horror films for Rogen to produce. The Point Grey Pictures founder is also attached to Lionsgate spec script “Video Nasty” with Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures also expected to produce. Written by Chris Thomas Delvin, “Video Nasty” is about three teens who rent a cursed VHS tape and are sucked into an ‘80s slasher movie. Think “Jumanji” meets “Scream.” Variety reported that Rogen’s “The Long Shot” director Jonathan Levine was “eyeing the project” as of November 2020.
“Invincible”

Image Credit: Amazon Prime Video

Rogen has put his signature warm, gravelly voice on display with animated series “Big Mouth” and as Puumba in “The Lion King,” but Rogen now beefs up his resumé as Allen the Alien in TV series “Invincible.” The Amazon Original dramedy reflects Rogen’s ongoing interest in the superhero genre, while also producing critically-acclaimed Amazon Prime Video series “The Boys.” Adult animated series “Invincible” is based on the Skybound/Image comics created by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley about a teenager whose father is the most powerful (and arguably most evil) superhero on Earth. J.K. Simmons, Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, Mark Hamill, and Gillian Jacobs costar with Rogen, who also executive-produces. Our critic Ben Travers wrote in his review that the series “should keep viewers on their toes — for the right reasons” with its blend of “earnestness and pathos amid satire and snark. Rogen is confirmed to return for Season Two as Allen the Alien.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

Image Credit: Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

TMNT unite! Rogen helms an animated reboot of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” with Nickelodeon. Officially titled “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” the Jeff Rowe-directed film is set to hit theaters on August 4, 2023. Rogen’s “Neighbor: Sorority Rising” screenwriter Brendan O’Brien penned the script, and Paramount will be handling global distribution. Rogen tweeted hand-written notes on June 1, 2021 to announce the release date. “Leo takes notes like I used to,” he captioned. The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” franchise has grossed over $1.15 billion since 1990 with six films from three different studios.
“The Something” & “Bubble”

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Rogen is taking on the final frontier with space comedy “The Something.” The actor-producer stars opposite Bill Hader and Zach Galifianakis as astronauts who find another ship after being stranded in space for years. The Hollywood Reporter cited that “22 Jump Street” writer Rodney Rothman was behind the script, with Good Universe’s Nathan Kahane and Joe Drake executive producing with Point Grey Pictures. Universal is set to distribute the film. While “The Something” was originally slated for a May 26, 2017 release, the film was shelved due to budget concerns and scheduling conflicts. However, Rogen is still publicly attached to the project as a producer. An updated status report has yet to be announced.

Similarly, fans are eagerly awaiting more news on the Rogen and Goldberg-led animated adaptation of the “Bubble” podcast with Sony Pictures Animation. The project was announced in May 2020, based on the 2018 podcast with Point Grey Pictures and Matt Tolmach (“Future Man”) producing. Podcast creator Jordan Morris is slated to pen the screenplay and co-executive produce. As Indiewire reported, “Bubble” is set in a “nightmarish version of the gig economy where a small ensemble of monster hunters use an app to get monster-hunting jobs.”
“UNprofessionals” & ”Darkwing Duck”

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Rogen was tied to CBS single-camera workplace comedy “UNprofessionals” as a producer with Point Grey Pictures and Lionsgate TV. Co-writers Andy Schwartz (“Scrubs”) and Randy and Jason Sklar (“Work From Home”) were announced in August 2019, with Jay Chandrasekhar (”Arrested Development”) set to direct and executive-produce. Set at the United Nations, the ensemble comedy was one of the first projects listed as part of the Point Grey Pictures and Lionsgate multi-platform content deal. However, there has not been an update since the initial development deal.

More recently, Rogen confirmed his involvement with the Disney+ “Darkwing Duck” reboot in November 2020. Rogen, Goldberg, Weaver, and Alex McAtee of Point Grey Pictures will executive-produce the parody cartoon that was originated by creator Tad Stones in 1991. “Darkwing Duck” follows duck superhero Drake Mallard and his crime-fighting sidekick Launchpad McQuack. The series is among various Disney titles relaunched for the streaming platform.
“Escape”

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Rogen surprised audiences with the news that he’d been secretly working on a passion project for the past five years titled “Escape.” In an April 2021 profile published by The New York Times Rogen revealed that Buster Keaton and Jackie Chan inspired the “big action movie,” cowritten by Goldberg. Rogen may be starring in the lead role, but he has yet to publicly commit.

The idea for “Escape” took off in January 2016 as Rogen created a digital flipbook to storyboad the whole film. Rogen also vowed in the interview that “Escape” will be a true experimental venture in the vein of Paul Thomas Anderson and Alfonso Cuarón’s work.

As The New York Times reported: “‘Escape’ grew out of a challenge the duo set for themselves to try and make people laugh without using dialogue. In ‘Pineapple Express,’ Rogen explained, ‘the scenes people remember are the fights, the foot through the windshield and, like, with ‘Neighbors,’ you think of the airbags’ — moments, that is, of outsize physical comedy. ‘We were like, Why are those just the supporting things? Why are those, amidst a sea of talky jokes, these things that pop up once in a while? Why don’t we make a bunch of these jokes and not rely on verbal humor?’”
“Console Wars”

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Seven years after first announcing the Sega vs. Nintendo project “Console Wars,” Rogen and partner Goldberg released the documentary on CBS All Access in September 2020. The streaming platform will also be home to the limited series of the same name, based on the book by Blake J. Harris. But the status of the project remains up in the air.

Rogen and Goldberg signed on to write and direct a “Console War” movie before that idea was turned into a limited series.

Variety previously reported that Jordan Vogt-Roberts (“You’re the Worst”) was directing with Mike Rosolio (“Take a Seat”) set to write the pilot. Casting has yet to be announced.
Other Rumored Projects

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Back in 2017, Rogen and former collaborator Franco announced they were returning to their TV roots with a Hulu TV series based on a script by social media personality Kelly Oxford, as reported by Variety. While it’s clear that Franco most likely will not be attached to the show following claims of sexual abuse and Rogen’s distancing from him, the hourlong teen drama “Untitled ‘90s Project” is still listed on Rogen’s IMDb page. Canadian memoirist and Twitter star Kelly Oxford made her directorial debut in 2020 with “Pink Skies Ahead,” which premiered at AFI FEST last year. Oxford also co-starred in “The Disaster Artist” opposite Rogen.

Co-exectuive producers Goldberg and Rogen are also expected to have a NBC project in the works. In the meantime, the longtime collaborators launched the marijuana pottery accessory brand Houseplant in March 2020.

“We are trying to really consider people who smoke weed in a way that they have not been considered before,” Rogen told Architectural Digest. “Just like alcohol has martini shakers, wine glasses, and corkscrews. If you are someone who smokes weed, there is really none of that.”

The brand was born from both Rogen and Goldberg’s shared love of pot, but also after realizing the “underserved audience” the filmmakers tapped into with past movie “Pineapple Express.” The cannabis company offers ashtrays, vases, and bongs — and Rogen has become a master of the kiln. Just add ceramicist to his long list of talents!