Justin Timberlake Is A "Bad Teacher"

Justin Timberlake has scored the lead male role in the comedy "Bad Teacher" at Sony Pictures.

According to Variety: Justin Timberlake will star opposite his former real-life love, Cameron Diaz, in Columbia Pictures romantic comedy "Bad Teacher."

Cameron Diaz plays a foul-mouthed, conniving middle school teacher whose sugar daddy cuts her off so she romantically pursues a substitute teacher (Timberlake) who is the heir to a watch fortune.

The teacher, however, is already in a relationship with a colleague (Lucy Punch) and soon the claws are out. Jason Segel, John Michael Higgins, Molly Shannon and Eric Stonestreet also star.

Timberlake and Diaz dated for years but broke it off in 2007. Timberlake beat out the likes of John Krasinski, Joel McHale, Timothy Olyphant, Guy Pearce, Adam Scott and Cheyenne Jackson for the role.

Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky penned the script, Jimmy Miller is producing and Jake Kasdan is directing.

This project has all the elements to be a hilarious film. Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky are two of the funniest writers on television with the work they do on “The Office,” and along with the new Ghostbusters film, they clearly are making their move to features.

Jake Kasdan has proved he is a solid comedy director, having helmed a bunch of episodes of “Freaks and Geeks” back in the day and also more recently with “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.”

Also, the supporting cast is fantastic. Jason Segel, John Michael Higgins, Molly Shannon and Eric Stonestreet are all very funny. Anyone who watched “Modern Family” knows how funny Stonestreet can be, and I don’t think anything needs to be said about how great Segel is.

I also don’t think there will be any problems between Timberlake and Diaz like Vincent Chase and Mandy Moore had on season 2 of “Entourage.” Timberlake is a classy dude, and Diaz is a big star that wouldn’t let any past issues get in the way.

Timberlake also will star in "The Open Road," due out this summer, about the estranged son of a baseball legend on a road trip with his dad. The film features Oscar nominee Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart") and Ted Danson. He will also appear in David Fincher's "The Social Network," about the start-up of Facebook, on October 15.

Shooting kicks off later this month in Los Angeles.