Andy Samberg Gets Cryogenically Frozen For His New Comedy
Andy Samberg plays a character that is cryogenically frozen and brought back 42.6 years later.
Andy Samberg has never been averse to taking risks with his comedy roles, most notably the subversive rise of his comedy group, Lonely Island, thanks to Saturday Night Live. The maestro behind such classics as “I’m On A Boat,” and “Motherlover,” is returning to theaters in a live-action leading role for the first time since 2020’s Palm Springs. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 42.6 Years will involve the comedian playing the ex-boyfriend of Jean Smart after over four decades being cryogenically frozen.
Faced with an uncurable disease, Andy Samberg’s character is frozen and wakes up 42.6 years later, still a young man but now alone in the future. With no one else to turn to, Samberg’s character finds his ex-girlfriend who is now significantly older than him. Most of the humor will likely come from the May-December romance between the two characters along with Samberg’s a man out of time confusion.
Jean Smart is a highly accomplished comedian in her own right, having won every Emmy award for Comedy that exists. In addition, the veteran actress has enjoyed a recent renaissance thanks to her roles in Watchmen as Agent Laurie Banks, and Mare of Easttown opposite Kate Winslet. Hit HBO comedy Hacks, starring Smart, resulted in back-to-back Emmy wins.
Joining Andy Samberg and Jean Smart behind the camera are director Craig Gillespie, known for Cruella, the Fright Night remake, and I, Tonya, with a script written by Seth Reiss. That name likely doesn’t mean much to you, but he’s the award-winning writer behind The Menu, one of 2022’s breakout hits starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes. For what might be a light-hearted comedy, 42.6 Years has an abundance of talent involved in the project.
The film won’t even be Andy Samberg’s first film to involve twisting the concept of time. One of the most critically-acclaimed films of 2020, Palm Springs, featured Samberg and Cristin Milloti, as strangers trapped in a time loop at a wedding. The pair bond over their predicament which goes through the usual scenes of any time loop film before wildly diverging with the inclusion of J.K. Simmons as Roy, a man accidentally trapped by Samberg’s Nyles.
Released digitally during the height of the Covid pandemic on Hulu, Palm Springs set a record for the streaming service with the most hours watched in a film’s first 72 hours than any other in Hulu’s history. The film follows the usual Andy Samberg comedy formula where it starts out light and then gets deeper as it sucks in the audience. For further reference, compare the first few seasons of Brooklyn 99, his hit comedy series, to the last few seasons.
Despite being a writer, producer, and the star of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Andy Samberg’s latest comedy film sounds like it might be another winner. Besides, getting Jean Smart to star in a feature film comedy is a good enough reason for 42.6 Years to be made in the first place. With no release date or further cast having been announced it will likely be awhile before the film hits theaters.
