'Knocked Up' Director Judd Apatow Is Full-Bore With Four New Films

March 19, 2008 — -- A not-so-funny thing happened to Judd Apatow, Hollywood's reigning buddha of belly laughs, when "Walk Hard" opened late last year.

The movie honcho might have taken cinematic hilarity to new R-rated highs (and lows) with 2007's "Knocked Up" and "Superbad," grossing a combined $270.3 million, but the musical biopic spoof that he produced and co-wrote tripped on its way to the box office, taking in a measly $18 million.

Apatow blames bad timing. "When we picked the date (Dec. 21), there wasn't a lot opening," he says. "But then, hey, they put 'Sweeney Todd' on that date and 'Charlie Wilson's War.' And it was a week after 'I Am Legend' came out."

But a rare misstep means little to this purveyor of man-child mirth, especially since the second coming of Judd is just around the corner.

Apatow, 40, who has been on a pretty steady hot streak since 2004's "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," is destined to regain his mojo in the next couple months with the arrival of a much-anticipated quartet of farces released under his production banner.

First up Friday is the PG-13 "Drillbit Taylor" with Owen Wilson as a homeless con man turned bodyguard for hapless high-schoolers.

It's followed by more typical R-rated risqué business: "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (April 18) starring Jason Segel as a breakup casualty; "Step Brothers" with headliners Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as rival sibs by marriage (July 25); and "Pineapple Express" (Aug. 8) with Seth Rogen and James Franco as stoners on the run.

All showcase regulars, both in front of the camera and behind, of an ever-burgeoning Apatow comedy network that has its main roots in the cast and crew of his one-season TV wonders, 1999's "Freak and Geeks" and 2001's "Undeclared."

And all follow at least a portion of what has evolved into the filmmaker's signature crowd-pleasing formula, one perfected by his first directing effort, 2004's "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." Ingredients include either a couple in an unstable relationship or a gaggle of misfit male buddies, a heavy dose of raunch and raucous behavior, dialogue both frank and foul that is often ad-libbed, visual shockers and a cameo by Rogen, Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill or some combination.