Things got a little funnier in Hall H, as Zombieland director Reuben Fleischer took the stage along with stars Aziz Ansari, Michael Pena and Nick Swardson to discuss the upcoming dark caper comedy 30 Minutes or Less.
Things began with a laugh
as
Ansari quipped, “I didn’t know Idris Elba was British,” referring to the
previous Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
panel, followed with a video from absentee star Danny McBride warning “If you
are viewing this, it means the apes have won.”
Like many comedies packed with such versatile actors (which also include Jesse Eisenberg), there is a great deal of improv added to the proceedings, Fleischer says, and these are among the funniest scenes in the film. There were entire exchanges between McBride and Swardson that were not in the script, but that’s not to say the actual material. Ansari says he as immediately attracted to the project after reading the script, with Fleischer adding Ansari and Eisenberg have a great easy-going chemistry throughout despite never having met before filming.
Fleischer also briefly
talked about his follow-up project The
Gangster Squad, about LAPD's fight to keep East Coast Mafia types out of
Los Angeles in the 1940s and 50s, set to star Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn and
Anthony Mackie among other impressive names. He stated he wanted to make this smaller, more personal film (that
being 30 Minutes or Less) before
going on to that really large-scale project.
The light-hearted panel wrapped up with two tidbits about Eisenberg. First, during the car chase, he did his own stunt driving (who new?) and second, he actually went on a ride-along with a pizza delivery dude to study for his part. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.