Paramount Picks Up 'Bastards' Comedy Spec

Paramount has preemptively picked up Bastards, a comedy spec from Justin Malen, for Montecito to produce.

The story, according to sources, centers on fraternal twin brothers who find out that their mother's been lying to them for years about their allegedly deceased father and thusly set out to find their real dad.

It is described as being in the vein of The Hangover, the raunchy comedy that is eponymous with the word "misadventures," and Flirting With Disaster, the 1996 David O. Russell comedy starring Ben Stiller as a man in search of his birth parents.

H2F's Chris Cowles will also produce while Chris Fenton exec produces.

The script went wide Monday and sold by noon Tuesday, showing that there still is a demand in the market for spec script.

Malen, repped by Verve and H2F, is an up-and-coming writer who wrote the comedy Trophy Husbands, set up at MRC with Mike Judge attached to direct. He also did a rewrite on Time Out, a comedy set up at Paramount and being produced by Temple Hill.