Christina Applegate has found her first post-Up All Night gig. Now that her NBC sitcom has imploded, THR reports that Applegate is in talks to play the female lead in the reboot/sequel to the family road trip comedy Vacation. The movie will star Ed Helms as a grown-up Rusty Griswold taking his family on vacation to Wally World, and Applegate’s potentially playing Helms’s “strong-willed wife who might be losing interest in him.†John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Horrible Bosses, Burt Wonderstone) are writing/directing and say they’re hoping to incorporate characters from the previous series, meaning original stars Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo may wind up playing supporting roles or making cameos. Filming begins in June, when Applegate will be finished filming another high-profile comedy sequel, Anchorman: The Legend Continues.
Applegate seems like a great fit for the role, as does Ed Helms. While most sequels and reboots run the risk of ruining the prestige of the original, that’s not really the case with Vacation. With Helms and Applegate in the lead roles, this will at least be better than franchise low points like Vegas Vacation, the TV spin-off movie starring Randy Quaid, and that Christmas Vacation-themed Old Navy commercial last year.