Judd Apatow may have Knocked Up follow-up in the oven

Judd Apatow will return to the scene of his biggest triumph with his next picture – a quasi-sequel to the 2007 hit comedy Knocked Up . Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann are to reprise their roles in the as-yet-untitled comedy, which is to be backed by Universal. The original Knocked Up, which earned $200m on release, starred Rudd and Mann as Pete and Debbie, a thirtysomething couple in crisis. Although the pair played second fiddle to headline actors Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl, Apatow has decided they are ideally suited to a spin-off movie. "It is just a story from Pete and Debbie's current life," the film-maker explained to HitFix.com . "People really responded to their characters and problems. I felt like there was a lot of ground I could explore with them, so we'll be shooting in July and will come out the following June. There are some fun details yet to reveal but I will let them come out slowly." The film will be Apatow's first project as director since 2009's Funny People , starring Adam Sandler. His production credits include Anchorman , Superbad , Step Brothers and Get Him to the Greek .