Muscle Starring Paul Rudd

Yes, you heard right.

The book “Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder” is currently in pre-production. (Good book, by the way.)

Edward Norton, who actually showed the potential to get hyuuuuuuge in American History X will be producing.

Starring will be Paul Rudd, last seen in The 40 Year Old Virgin as the skinny friend of Steve Carell.

There will be a 3 month break in the middle of shooting to let Mr. Rudd get larger.

This news made me happy for two reasons:

  1. During the press junkets, we can look forward to a 35-year-old man who has been skinny his whole life crediting his sudden 40 lb weight gain to “working out really hard and eating right.”

and;

  1. Professor X’s head just exploded.

Interesting…very interesting…I wonder how they’ll fuck it up…

3 months is not enough time for that guy to get in the shape that Fussell was by the end of his BB “career”.

By the way, where did you read this? There is no mention of it on IMDB.

[quote]harris447 wrote:
Yes, you heard right.

The book “Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder” is currently in pre-production. (Good book, by the way.)

Edward Norton, who actually showed the potential to get hyuuuuuuge in American History X will be producing.

Starring will be Paul Rudd, last seen in The 40 Year Old Virgin as the skinny friend of Steve Carell.

There will be a 3 month break in the middle of shooting to let Mr. Rudd get larger.

This news made me happy for two reasons:

  1. During the press junkets, we can look forward to a 35-year-old man who has been skinny his whole life crediting his sudden 40 lb weight gain to “working out really hard and eating right.”

and;

  1. Professor X’s head just exploded.[/quote]

Holy shit, this is one of my favorite books of all time! I’ve read it at least three, maybe four times now; I read about once a year since I bought it. It’s a great book. A bit sad in a way, really. But every time I pick it up I can’t put it down.

I’ve been looking for years to find out whatever happened to Sam Fussell, but he has hidden himself quite well since the book came out.

Coincidentally, Rudd is one of my favorite comedians, which is why I’m a bit surprised at the casting. While the book definitely has some very funny moments, it’s certainly not a comedy. I hope they don’t try to make a joke out of the whole thing.

[quote]Miserere wrote:
Interesting…very interesting…I wonder how they’ll fuck it up…

3 months is not enough time for that guy to get in the shape that Fussell was by the end of his BB “career”.[/quote]

Yep. And Fussell went on the gear, too.
They would need a year off, with the actor on gear the whole time.

[quote]CC wrote:
I hope they don’t try to make a joke out of the whole thing.

[/quote]

Have you been paying attention to Hollywood lately? 3 months? I’ll wait until they show it on basic cable…maybe.

Wow, I can’t believe it’s being made into a movie. I can’t really imagine a general audience getting a whole lot of enjoyment from this story. But, I’d sure as hell see it, the book was a great read.

-MAtt

[quote]Professor X wrote:
CC wrote:
I hope they don’t try to make a joke out of the whole thing.

Have you been paying attention to Hollywood lately? 3 months? I’ll wait until they show it on basic cable…maybe.[/quote]

I was talking more along the lines of “I hope they don’t purposefully try to make the story into a comedy”.

I already know it’s not going to be a true physical representation of the book. Sam Fussell was up to around 240, I believe, before he started cutting for his two shows (don’t quote me on that, but it’s somewhere in the ballpark). There is no way Paul Rudd is going to get that heavy. That’s why I’m very confused by the casting.

But I like Ed Norton and just about everything he’s been in. So I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt as the producer and hope it’s at least decent.

I thought Fussel was a Brit.

3 months and 40 pounds heavier and you hope they don’t turn this into a joke?

Gees, you’re still sending letters to Santa, aren’t you?

I would be curious to see the stack they use.

[quote]Dirty Tiger wrote:
I thought Fussel was a Brit.

[/quote]

You know, that’s something I could never truly distinguish from the novel.

There were only three references suggesting as much, hardly anything conclusive.

  1. His parents didn’t like the fact that he preferred American over British literature.

  2. He attended Oxford. But from my understanding of the novel he spent his entire life, both before and after Oxford, in New York.

  3. The first time he met “Vinnie” when he got to Cali, the first words out of Vinnie’s mouth are: “Yo, uh, you from England or somethin’?” Which might suggest he had a British accent; but that seems odd considering he spent most of his life in New York.

P.S. Yes, I admit that it’s sad I know the book this well and I’ve spent way too much time reading and analyzing it…:slight_smile:

[quote]Zen warrior wrote:
3 months and 40 pounds heavier and you hope they don’t turn this into a joke?

Gees, you’re still sending letters to Santa, aren’t you?[/quote]

Read my post one more time, the second one in particular.

I hope they don’t make the story into a comedy.

[quote]CC wrote:
Zen warrior wrote:
3 months and 40 pounds heavier and you hope they don’t turn this into a joke?

Gees, you’re still sending letters to Santa, aren’t you?

Read my post one more time, the second one in particular.

I hope they don’t make the story into a comedy.

[/quote]

Okay, still don’t see what I mean either, do you? 40 pounds of muscle in 3 months!?!?!

Wow, the guy musta’ been holding a rock on the scale.

I might’ve come of as rude in my first post, and I didn’t intended it, but get real: it’s already a comedy, story or not.

[quote]Zen warrior wrote:
CC wrote:
Zen warrior wrote:
3 months and 40 pounds heavier and you hope they don’t turn this into a joke?

Gees, you’re still sending letters to Santa, aren’t you?

Read my post one more time, the second one in particular.

I hope they don’t make the story into a comedy.

Okay, still don’t see what I mean either, do you? 40 pounds of muscle in 3 months!?!?!

Wow, the guy musta’ been holding a rock on the scale.

I might’ve come of as rude in my first post, and I didn’t intended it, but get real: it’s already a comedy, story or not.

[/quote]

Agreed. I haven’t read this book, but I seriously doubt the average couch potato will get the same thing from it that someone would who lifts weights.

As such, it will probably be either ripped to shreds or completely mistaken for a full blown comedy about people who lift weights.

Shit like that will probably do more damage than good, especially if they hired a damn comedian for the leading role. I am putting money on the need to actually protest the damn thing rather than cheer it on.

[quote]Zen warrior wrote:
Okay, still don’t see what I mean either, do you? 40 pounds of muscle in 3 months!?!?![/quote]

You’ve got to be kidding me…have you read anything I said?

[quote]CC wrote:
I already know it’s not going to be a true physical representation of the book. Sam Fussell was up to around 240, I believe, before he started cutting for his two shows (don’t quote me on that, but it’s somewhere in the ballpark). There is no way Paul Rudd is going to get that heavy.[/quote]

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Agreed. I haven’t read this book, but I seriously doubt the average couch potato will get the same thing from it that someone would who lifts weights.

As such, it will probably be either ripped to shreds or completely mistaken for a full blown comedy about people who lift weights.

Shit like that will probably do more damage than good, especially if they hired a damn comedian for the leading role. I am putting money on the need to actually protest the damn thing rather than cheer it on.[/quote]

To each his own. I’m still going to wait. There was a time when people would have laughed their asses off had you told them Robin Williams and Tom Hanks would ever amount to anything more than just a couple of goofballs. Same goes for Jamie Foxx, for those who followed his “In Living Color” days (that show was like crack for me growing up).

I know I’m going out on a limb here comparing Paul Rudd to Oscar-caliber actors. But the point I’m making is that some comedians can surprise you when it comes to dramatic roles, and that’s all I’m really hoping for: a good movie dealing with something I care passionately about (weightlifting, BBing, etc.).

I could give a shit about the regular couch potatoe’s opinion. People who don’t understand this lifestyle never will, whether the book/movie paints it in a positive light or not.

[quote]CC wrote:
Zen warrior wrote:
Okay, still don’t see what I mean either, do you? 40 pounds of muscle in 3 months!?!?!

You’ve got to be kidding me…have you read anything I said?

CC wrote:
I already know it’s not going to be a true physical representation of the book. Sam Fussell was up to around 240, I believe, before he started cutting for his two shows (don’t quote me on that, but it’s somewhere in the ballpark). There is no way Paul Rudd is going to get that heavy.

[/quote]

Dude, I read everything you said, we’re just looking at it from different angles, is all.

You like the book and the lead actor, hence you’re willing to give it a try, even though you’re still aware of the incongruity of some of its aspects.

I’m just being a pessimistic bastard, and make fun of that 40 lbs in 3 months claim. You said that Rudd couldn’t get to 240, that’s all well and good, but still not a word of 40 lbs in 3 months, which is why I’m saying that the comedy as already begun, like it or not.

But hey, to each its own, if you’re a true fan I hope you’ll love the movie. I already know there’s no way in hell I’m gonna waste 10$ on this. I’d rather buy the book…

[quote]Zen warrior wrote:
But hey, to each its own, if you’re a true fan I hope you’ll love the movie. I already know there’s no way in hell I’m gonna waste 10$ on this. I’d rather buy the book…[/quote]

“Do it…do it…this is the sound of my voice, do it…”

In all seriousness, you really should buy the book. T-mag did a review on it way back in the day, but that’s not how I discovered it.

Curiously enough, I just saw it while browsing in a book store several years ago (the title obviously interested someone like me), picked it up, sat down “just to read a couple of pages”, and before I knew it I looked down and realized I’d read like 30 or 40 pages of it.

If you care anything about the “iron game” you’ll do the same. It’s that good.

One word of caution, however. You may not agree with how Fussell ends the book. That’s my only complaint with it. But I don’t want to give anything away.

[quote]CC wrote:
I could give a shit about the regular couch potatoe’s opinion. People who don’t understand this lifestyle never will, whether the book/movie paints it in a positive light or not.
[/quote]

Well, the millions of people who buy movie tickets are usually NOT avid bodybuilders. That means, in order to make money, most movies are not made to appeal to the minority in a population unless made by members of that minority. I seriously doubt this movie is about to present bodybuilding in a positive light at all. No other form of media has to this point since Pumping Iron.