Sunday, July 5, 2026

Larry David Update: HBO Film Has No Script, Just Outline, and No Kristen Wiig

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A couple of hours ago came more news about the Larry David film I announced here exclusively a while ago. The film, originally set up at Fox Searchlight, still co-stars Jon Hamm. Now a few more names have been added including Eva Mendes, Bill Hader, and Kate Hudson. But here are a couple of things not said: first of all Kristen Wiig was supposed to join the cast. I’m told negotiations fell apart. Wiig has gotten big, so it was probably a matter of money. Too bad–she and Hamm have great chemistry from “Bridesmaids.” I’m assuming that was the role Kate Hudson got.

Second, even though a synopsis of the plot of “Clear History” (a reference to an internet browser–can that really be the name?) was released, there is no script. Says one insider: “It’s just an outline.” The movie is mostly improvisational. It’s interesting that they added J.B. Smoove from “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I think HBO wants this to seem as much like “Curb” as possible without being the actual thing. Also, I’m told at least part of the film will be shot on the north shore of Boston near Danvers, Massachusetts in September and October. A casting call went out up there for kids of different ages. The film will also shoot at least for one day on Martha’s Vineyard, where David lives in the summer.

PS Can you still vote for best written comedy episode for the Emmys? Hands down it was “Palestinian Chicken” from “Curb” last season. Maybe one of the best single shows in comedy TV history, right up there with “Chuckles is Dead,” “The Anti-Dentite,” and a Murphy Brown with Wallace Shawn announcing his political platform.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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