Mike Judge is still one of the most underrated comedic filmmakers working these days. Despite Idiocracy was mishandled by Fox and ended up a flop anyway, Office Space will still remain one of the comedy greats of all-time, as will Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, one of Judge's other creations. Now Judge has a new project in the works - Extract. The film sounds like Office Space from the other side: what it's like to be the boss when everything seems to be shifting around you. Jason Bateman will star and thankfully Miramax will distribute this time, although that unofficially makes this an independent film, but we're still holding out for Judge this time around.
Extract is being setup under Mike Judge's new production company called Ternion Productions. The film actually follows a flower extract plant owner (played by Bateman) dealing with workplace issues and a stream of bad luck, including his wife's affair with a gigolo. While there are no details yet regarding when this will go into production, we can guess that it will shoot sometime later this year for a 2009 release. We'll update you if that changes or if we hear about any other major updates.
I actually really hated Idiocracy when I saw it in theaters. It was one of the stupidest movies I've seen in my entire life that had no redeaming qualities besides "Brawndo: The Thirst Mutilator". Despite that disaster, I actually still do think Judge could pull off another great comedy. This time he's got Bateman at the helm, which is a great start, and the concept doesn't sound too bad. If anything, it sounds like Judge is going back to his work-atmosphere roots. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping Extract turns out great.