Seth Rogen is re-teaming with Sony Pictures to play a pickle maker in an upcoming movie based on Simon Rich’s New Yorker novella that was initially published in 2013, Variety has confirmed. Rich will be writing the screenplay and cinematographer Brandon Trost will make his directorial debut on the project.
The film stars Rogen as Herschel Greenbaum, a struggling laborer who immigrates to America in 1918 with dreams of building a better life for his beloved family. One day, while working at his factory job, he falls into a vat of pickles and is brined for 100 years. The brine preserves him perfectly and when he emerges in present-day Brooklyn, he finds that he hasn’t aged a day. But when he seeks out his family, he is horrified to learn that his only surviving relative is his great-grandson, Ben Greenbaum (also played by Rogen), a mild-mannered computer coder whom Herschel can’t even begin to understand.
Production will likely begin in October in Pittsburgh. Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and James Weaver will produce through their Point Grey banner. Executive producers include Rich and Alexandria McAtee.
Rogen’s last project with Sony was his R-rated animated comedy Sausage Party, which earned $140.7 at the worldwide box office off of a $19 million budget. The Emmy nominee has kept busy producing, directing, writing, and starring in a variety of titles, including AMC’s Preacher, Amazon’s The Boys, Console Wars, Flarsky, Black Monday, and Like Father. He is currently working on the live-action/CGI hybrid re-imagining of The Lion King, where he will voice the character of Pumbaa.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
