Judd Apatow has had a long-standing relationship with Universal Pictures and his company, Apatow Productions, which dates back to 2005 with his directorial debut, The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He’s widely known for his comedy films which have found success and grossed around $3 billion.
The last time we saw the director, he partnered up with Netflix to bring the COVID comedy, The Bubble, which was met with negative reception and was widely seen as his worst movie yet. Since the failure of The Bubble, he’s been making documentaries, with his latest one being Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story. Apatow now returns to the director’s chair with a new comedy starring and co-written by Glen Powell titled The Comeback King.
The Comeback King is a comedy starring Powell, Cristin Milioti, Madelyn Cline, Stavros Halkias, and Li Jin Hao. Co-written by Powell and directed by Apatow, it is the next movie to be released for both the director and lead, with it currently in production and set to release exclusively in theatres on February 5, 2027.
Barry Mendel and Josh Church are signed on to executive produce the film, staying on as long-time partners of Apatow who collectively previously worked with him on The King of Staten Island, Trainwreck, This is 40, and The Bubble.
The synopsis tells us that The Comeback King is about a country-western star whose career begins to go into free-fall. There’s not much else yet known about the plot, and details are being kept under wraps, but with Glen Powell leading the cast and Judd Apatow at the helm, we can expect a movie about a flawed character who goes through personal growth with a heartfelt story underneath it all combined with Apatow’s signature grounded humour.
Universal Pictures released a poster with a neck-down view of a man wearing a white shirt and jeans, holding onto his western belt buckle featuring the logo of the film.
Glen Powell has recently been crowned a leading man in the making, with some people making comparisons to Tom Cruise. Powell has previously excelled in comedies such as Hit Man, Anyone But You, and Hulu’s Chad Powers series. Glen Powell recently starred in the Stephen King adaptation of The Running Man, How to Make a Killing, and the recently released The Super Mario Galaxy Movie as Fox McCloud.
Aside from The Comeback King, he’s set to star in J.J. Abrams’s big return to the big screen with the sci-fi film The Great Beyond and is set to produce A24’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise with his production company, Barnstorm, which will begin with a television series and also has a film that’s in the early stages of development.
The combination of Judd Apatow and Glen Powell could mean a lot for both of their careers. With Apatow returning to tell a story that he’s familiar with and having Powell attached, who has showcased that he has what it takes to be a leading man as he builds his legacy, we could get a film that both brings back Apatow from the failure that was The Bubble and allows Powell to once again have another great comedy under his belt to highlight his range and depth.
