Glen Powell is one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, and he’ll soon get busy portraying a country music star in a new movie directed by comedy guru Judd Apatow.
The country music genre will soon be returning to the big screen, and everything we know so far points towards the film being a comedy. Will the country music itself be the punch line? You can’t rule it out. But considering the proposed premise of the movie, it seems like the fictional country music star that the project will focus on will probably be the thing that’s set to bring the most laughs.
Judd Apatow is set to direct, and in case you didn’t know, he’s the mind behind some of the best comedy movies and TV shows since the turn of the century. His directorial credits include The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) and Knocked Up (2007), and his producer credits include Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004 ), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), and Superbad (2007), just to name a few.
You are probably noticing that a lot of those bigs hits are now close to two decades old. As far as Judd Apatow projects go, he’s somewhat stalled out a bit as of late. His last movie, The Bubble, was a flop… and his most recent successful TV show, Girls, aired it’s final episode in 2017. The esteemed director and producer is really looking for another hit, and that might come in the form of this team up with Glen Powell.
When you look at Powell, there’s arguably not a star that’s bigger than him at the moment. Ever since he starred in Top Gun: Maverick back in 2022, he’s been on a rocket ship to the top. He’s since churned out box office hits like Twisters, Anyone But You, and most recently the revival of The Running Man. The 37-year-old also stars in the Hulu series Chad Powers, where he plays an undercover football player.
Now, Powell will take on the role of a country music artist who’s “career is in free fall.” It’ll apparently be his next movie, and the film is rumored to start filming towards the beginning of 2026. Powell and Apatow are actually writing the script for the feature together, and there’s apparently a lot of faith in the idea. Universal Pictures has reportedly fast-tracked the original, still-untitled comedy that will star Glenn Powell as the struggling country music star, and be directed by Judd Apatow
Like I floated out earlier… it’ll be interesting to see how they approach the country music storyline. Could it play out a lot like Talladega Nights, where a feel good, comeback story is presented with the backdrop of country music being poked fun at the whole time? Or will Glenn Powell and the surrounding characters themselves be the ones that bring the laughs, and the setting just so happens to be the country music world?
I’ve got a feeling that the genre itself will be joked about throughout the film, and I’d imagine that country music artists and fans will be able to take the joke. All in all, it’ll be just great to see country music at the center of what could be a blockbuster movie if Glenn Powell is attached to it.
