Reynolds and Cooper sign up for cop action-comedy

Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper are signing up for take-your-dads-to-work day. The busy actors are attached to star in an untitled original action-comedy from Up In The Air co-writer Sheldon Turner,who snagged north of seven figures for the gig. The story follows two friends,who are also San Francisco cops,whose fathers were once partners on the police force. The older generation is forced out of retirement to help their sons crack a case,with typically antagonistic results.

The action flick is meant to have an updated Lethal Weapon flavour that plays into edgier R-rated territory. Turner and producer Andrew Panay (Wedding Crashers) first developed the pitch,then called Blowback,five years ago with Dwayne Johnson,then known as The Rock,attached to one of the roles.

The current iteration is not yet set up at a studio.

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Reynolds returns to theatres next month in the indie thriller Buried and will illuminate screens next June in Green Lantern.

Cooper (The Hangover) hits theatres in January with the thriller The Dark Fields. A sequel to The Hangover is being lined up for a May release. Turner wrote the screenplays for The Longest Yard and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning,and he is currently casting his directorial debut,By Virtue Fall,from his own original screenplay. His Up In The Air adaptation,co-written with director Jason Reitman,received an Oscar nomination this year.