Zombieland Helmer Ruben Fleischer To Direct Mike White's Babe In The Woods

Ruben Fleischer got his start in commercials and music videos, but his feature film debut Zombieland made Hollywood pay attention to the filmmaker. Columbia Pictures is trying to keep him in the fold, announcing today that Fleischer will develop and direct Babe in the Woods, a screenplay written by Mike White. The story is described as an "action comedy" about an innocent young college freshman from the Midwest who arrives at Yale and becomes a target of the New Jersey mafia.

White's previous credits include Dead Man on Campus, Chuck & Buck, Freaks and Geeks, and The Good Girl. More recently, he's had a turn in more family-friendly territory with School of Rock and Nacho Libre, before making his directorial debut Year of the Dog. White is best when put in the dark comedy arena.

Fleischer is currently in preproduction on 30 Minutes or Less with Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari and Jesse Eisenberg attached to star. The filmmaker also recently sold ab untitled action comedy pitch to DreamWorks, which he hopes to direct and produce with Nicholas Stoller and Gavin Polone. Mike White most recently wrote and directed the HBO television pilot Enlightened, and is writing the comedy Santa Wars for Paramount Pictures.