If Jason Segel's last film, "The Muppets," was fulfilling a childhood dream, then his latest screenwriting endeavor, "The Five-Year Engagement," was done to satisfy another: creating a movie worthy of being placed alongside some classic New York-set romances.
"Well, it hopefully is a very unique film," Segel told Movieline last summer. "But we watched 'Annie Hall' a few times, and 'When Harry Met Sally.' Hopefully it's one of those -- that's shooting for the stars."
Apparently, the Tribeca Film Festival was satisfied: the comedy, co-scripted by Segel, has been selected to open the 11th annual Tribeca Film Festival in April.
"The Tribeca Film Festival has always celebrated the power of creative collaboration, and there is no better example of that than 'The Five-Year Engagement,'" said Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal in a press release. "We are so pleased to join with Universal Pictures to bring the wit and energy of this hilarious and affecting film to Tribeca as we kick off our 11th edition."
"Five-Year Engagement" is the latest collaboration between Segel and Nicholas Stoller; the pair previously teamed up for "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (Segel's first produced screenplay) as well as on "The Muppets."
"When Jason and I met during the production of 'Undeclared,' we couldn't have imagined that one day we would write a comedy that would open such a prestigious film festival as Tribeca," Stoller said in a statement. "We are so honored that the festival organizers have given us this platform to premiere the film. To be honest, this is all just a ploy to stand on top of a building with Robert De Niro and look out over New York City at dusk."
Starring Segel, Emily Blunt, Alison Brie (!), Jacki Weaver (!!) and Chris Pratt (!!!), "The Five-Year Engagement" details the ups and downs of a couple in the midst of a half-decade engagement. It's set for release nationwide on April 28. It's Tribeca Film Festival premiere will happen on April 19.
The Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 19 through April 28. Look for more updates on the full festival lineup in the near future.