Todd Phillips has the Duplass Brothers Writing ‘Mule’

Todd Phillips keeps busy. He's currently working on 'The Hangover Part III,' recently teamed with Danny McBride for a project, and has just hired Mark and Jay Duplass to adapt the novel 'Mule.' The latter would be about a young couple who go into the drug running business because the recession.

This comes from Deadline, and it's a curious pairing. The Duplass brothers have directed indie and faux-indie films like 'Jeff Who Lives at Home' and 'Cyrus,' and their approach seems antithetical to Phillips. That said, both have made a number of movies about man-children types who can't seem to grow up, either out of their parents home, or out of their college days.

And both are very interested in character work. Phillips has done a lot of comedies, and the reason why he stands out as a comic director is that - though he works with star performers - he actually directs his movies and doesn't just point the camera, and fills his films with defined characters, not just star turns.

The Duplass brothers also keep busy, but the public face of the two is Mark, who  has had a very active acting career. He's been in films like 'Greenberg' and will be visible this summer in 'My Sister's Sister,' 'People Like Us' and 'Safety Not Guaranteed.'