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Director Seth Gordon is Taking on Frank Portman's King Dork

by Alex Billington
July 16, 2009

Filmmaker Seth Gordon, who we interviewed last year, has lined a number of comedy projects following Four Christmases, which he directed last year. He's got a feature version of The King of Kong documentary, which was his break out hit, in the works; Suicide Squad, about a heist gone wrong at the Kentucky Derby; and Mr. Romance, a comedy about a competition where men compete to see who has the highest "romantic IQ." Add to that list King Dork, an adaptation of Frank Portman's novel of the same name. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Production is developing the project at Sony for Gordon to eventually direct.

Frank Portman's King Dork book is, just as it sounds, about another teenage high school student who is tormented by all sorts of cliques and seeks refuge in music. Here's the Amazon review of the book: In Frank Portman's dazzling debut novel, frustrated song-writer and high school student Tom Henderson finds his dead father's copy of The Catcher in the Rye, and his life changes forever. Part social satire, part mystery, with a healthy dose of rock music (and angst), King Dork is one of our must-read favorites of the year.

I like Seth Gordon, I think he's a good guy and a good director. However, I've said before that it seems he's gotten stuck only taking on cheesy comedy projects. Maybe that's just what he likes to do and/or maybe there's more to King Dork than I know, as I haven't read the book. When it first hit shelves in 2006, it "drew accolades for its portrayal of a highly self-aware high school student and its frank discussion of sex, drugs and other tricky topics." Ferrell and McKay had originally set this up at Paramount Vantage but shifted it to Sony when that studio shut down. We'll definitely let you know what Seth Gordon ends up directing next.

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