Judd Apatow: 'It is Time for This Is 50'

Judd Apatow, the director of This Is 40, has announced that he is working on a sequel to the film, titled This Is 50, featuring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann.

Apatow, Mann's husband, wrote and directed This Is 40, which also stars their children, Maude and Iris Apatow, who both appeared in Knocked Up.

This Is 40 was released in 2012 and starred Rudd and Mann as Pete and Debbie, a couple in their 40s dealing with the ups and downs of contemporary employment, family, and marriage. The characters previously debuted in Apatow's 2007 comedy Knocked Up, starring Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl, making This Is 40 a type of comic offshoot.

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Judd Apatow Says It’s Time for This Is 50

Apatow tells The Wrap that he's eager to continue the story of the characters from This Is 40, saying, "I’ve always wanted to make This Is 50 and it is time."

He goes on to stress the importance of the timing, noting that it's exactly a decade after the release of This Is 40, and that he's already working on an outline for the project and creating the storyline. The director has already stated that he would like to see what happens to the characters, notably Pete and Debbie's children, played by Maude and Iris.

“I feel like [This Is 40] has really aged well, and it always feels like everyone watches it when they turn 40 and they go, ‘Oh, I understand it all now’ (laughs). So I’m enthusiastic about putting that together,” Apatow told the publication.

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A Follow Up to This Is 40 Characters, 10 Years Later

This Is 40 is widely regarded as one of Apatow's best comedies, and the characters of Pete and Debbie (along with their children and parents) have become iconic after starring in both Knocked Up and This Is 40. Seeing the characters a decade later and what their lives have become would be a nice addition to the Apatow-verse and could easily become a recurring feature.

This Is 50 may lead to This Is 60 and so on, possibly handing the torch to the kids as they grow older, or even a This Is 30 with Maude as the star. There's a lot of potential there, which largely depends on people finding relatable humor and lovable characters amidst Apatow's repeating comedy backdrop.

In the meantime, Apatow's next film, The Bubble, a comedy about a bunch of actors attempting to finish a film while quarantined in a hotel, will be released on Netflix in April.

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