Seth Rogen won’t appear in Knocked Up spin-off

Judd Apatow is busy at work on his Knocked Up spin-off (tentatively titled This is Forty), which focuses on Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann), the disgruntled married couple who supported Ben (Seth Rogen) and Alison (Katherine Heigl) during their pregnancy in the 2006 box office hit.

Rogen has told Movies.com that he will not reprise his role in the new film (which means an awkward reunion with Heigl – who called Apatow’s original picture sexist – probably won’t happen either).

“Yeah I’m not in it, but I went to visit the set and it looked hilarious … It was a good choice, honestly, because I think it would’ve confused people. But I’m really looking forward to seeing it; I thought the script was unbelievably funny.”

As was previously reported, the picture will also star Megan Fox, Chris O’Dowd and Jason Segel.

Rogen also told Movies.com that he plans to co-direct the long-gestating Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse next February with frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg. A fake trailer was created a couple of years ago, in which Rogen and Jay Baruchel dealt with the end-of-days by getting stoned.

Apparently, the film is now “oddly personal” for Rogen, and will feature “many other people vs. the apocalypse now”.

Discuss: Would you have liked Ben and Alison to pop up in Apatow’s latest?