Peter Segal Joins A "Neighborhood Watch"

Peter Segal ("Get Smart") is in negotiations to direct the comedy "Neighborhood Watch," reports Variety.

According to the site: Twentieth Century Fox is in talks with Peter Segal to direct "Neighborhood Watch," the Jared Stern-scripted comedy that Shawn Levy is producing. Segal, who last directed "Get Smart," had been developing the sequel, but the film is being pushed back by Warner Bros. That made him available to direct the supernatural comedy.

Previously, David Dobkin was attached to direct and Will Ferrell to star but that pairing fell apart over the summer. Stern's script focuses on a newcomer to a community who joins the neighborhood watch and discovers supernatural elements are afoot.

If Fox can get Segal, it would be great for the film (think about “Tommy Boy” and not “Anger Management”), but I think the fact that Will Ferrell won’t be starring in it is a positive for the project.

While I appreciate Will Ferrell and think he can be funny, over the past few years some of his films haven't turned out nearly as good as they should have. It’s almost as if the filmmakers are saying, "Let's have Will Ferrell as an aging basketball player," "Let's have Will Ferrell as a paleontologist," or in this case, "Let's Have Will Ferrell on a neighborhood watch." By doing so, they take away from the actual movie and just showcase Ferrell’s mostly ridiculous antics.

I think the premise of the film is good, and by not having Ferrell in the part, it might move in a different direction and be better for it. Of course that depends who they cast in the role, which remains to be seen.

Look for “Neighborhood Watch” in 2011.