Luke Wilson will star with Laura Dern on a new HBO comedy pilot. The cute, hilarious actor has earned more and more attention over the past decade with more than 35 film roles, including directing and writing credits, but hopefully this pilot will finally put this guy on the map to the kind of superstardom his charm, good looks, and humor warrant!

The Hollywood Reporter describes the roles of Dern and Wilson in the pilot created by Mike White. Dern will play a  self-destructive woman named Amy who decides to live an enlightened life (hence the name “Enlightened”) after having a total breakdown and personal spiritual revival. This new lifestyle creates huge problems in both her professional and domestic life.

Amy’s husband Levi (played by Wilson)  is pretty much a messy, lazy loser with a drug problem. This will be Wilson’s first regular TV role, and sounds like one that his humor will be very well-suited for. Can’t wait to see it!

He looks HOT in the ads, and he’s funny as always. The postcard ad is the big one, but there have been follow-up commercials that are even funnier!

We love us some Luke Wilson in commercials–be they controversial or whatever else! The more we get to see him, the better. Besides these commercials, he has two upcoming movies (“Death at a Funeral” and “Electric Avenue”), as well as an HBO pilot with Laura Dern called “Enlightened.” Can’t wait!

Luke Wilson plays the role of Derek in the upcoming remake “Death at a Funeral.” The movie features an all-star cast including Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Danny Glover, Martin Lawrence, Loretta Devine, Ron Glass, Regina Hall, James Marsden, Zoe Saldana, and other well-known and FUNNY actors and actresses.

The film is a remake of the MGM comedy released in 2007 and directed by Frank Oz. The plot revolves around a funeral that leads to the discovery of shocking family secrets. The story involves misplaced cadavers and lots of other crazy concepts.

The trailer (see it on YouTube here) released in December features a lot of scenes with super comedians Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence. They really bring the “funny.” It also features another really funny comedian by the name of Kevin Hart,and features on longtime funnyman Tracy Morgan.

“Death at a Funeral” will be released in theaters April 16,2010.

Luke and older brother Andrew Wilson will be co-directing a new movie called “Electric Avenue.” This will be their second joint directorial project. Luke will also star in the movie, along with a mystery co-star.

“It’s going to be [starring] Luke and,” he pauses… “somebody else who I’m not at liberty to announce quite yet since it’s real exciting,” Andrew explains.

He goes on to describe the storyline, “It’s kind of like a ‘48 Hours’ type buddy comedy,” he said. “Except instead of cops, they’re reporters.” It’s difficult to imagine 48 hours being played by reporters…But we’ll take his word for it.

Andrew and Luke also co-directed “The Wendell Baker Story” which starred Luke alongside Eva Mendez with guest appearances from Will Ferrell and a handful of other great comedy actors. If this film was any indication, “Electric Avenue” should be a blast!

I am the first to laugh at dumb things that celebrities do, but I didn’t have the heart to post these in February when they came out. Luke Wilson put on weight. Some linked the weight gain to his movie “Henry Poole is Here,” but others linked it to stress from his brother’s (Owen Wilson) suicide attempt.

But now that he’s already back to the old Luke, here’s the before photo (from February one afternoon while dining in Santa Monica):

And here is the after photo taken last month–sure, not the hottest he’s ever looked in his life, and slightly too similar to David Arquette to float some people’s boats, but looking much better nonetheless. The lady friend in this photo resembles Luke’s 4 year on-again, off-again girlfriend, but I am not sure it’s her:

Lil’ Abner Yokum was a comic book character in the comic strip that was loved by readers all over the country from 1934 to 1977. Lil’ Abner was HOT but virtuous and naive. He often ended up far from home (a place called Dogpatch) surrounded by businessmen and other types whose moral standards were much lower than Abner’s.

The Schmoo was an odd…uh….thing also featured in this comic strip. It looked kind of like Caspar the Ghost (in my opinion). Lil’ Abner discovered Schmoos when he wandered into a forbidden valley. Schmoo paraphanelia was very popular in the 1940’s–below is a real display of toys for sale long ago.

Luke also says that the Wilson siblings were so close that it worried their parents! Wow, now that’s brotherly comradery for you!

It is well known that even in adulthood, Luke lived with his brother Owen, despite having a home one mile away. As late as 2002, he was living in Owen’s Santa Monica home.

Source: Seattle Times, 1-2002

Seriously, this movie was cute. Not ALL Luke Wilson movies are great, but this one…pretty good! I definitely wouldn’t rate it as a waste of money type movie. The humor was great. I laughed aloud in several parts–and I am the type who often sits through a whole sit-come without laughing at all. (Except for the really funny ones, but even then, it’s not that easy to make me laugh.)

So, what else makes a movie good or bad? The acting, storyline, twists, and believability. Some parts of the movie were overboard–like the Willie Nelson father figure. Okay, a little over the top, as in a little too countrified. But no more so than movies like the love scene in “Zoolander”–I mean, come on. The acting was fine–we’re not talking star-studded Oscar material here, but it was fine!

The storyline was also at least average, if not above average, compared to some other movies that have recently been wildly successful. Katie (Jessica Simpson) follows her fiance to New York City, but they break up shortly after. She decides to stay and get a job to help pay off the mortgage on family property back home. She has a roommate who’s an aspiring actress (Rachael Leigh Cook). When she helps the roommate fill in at work for a day, she first meets Ben (Luke Wilson). From there, the plot unfolds simply, but nicely! I’m serious! The events are easy to follow, but not ridiculously predictable. There are funny details that drive humor in the plot as well, such as the crazy, controlling secretary and anal-retentive boss–they might sound cliche, but the characters are pretty unique. There are even unexpected twists!

I recommend renting it–it just came out on DVD. But I admit it–I would have gladly been one of the 48 people who saw it in the theater.

Harrelson says, “You can’t believe how serious a wonderful lawn game can become when you play it with the Wilson brothers.”

This is interesting considering Luke’s insistence that he considers Owen the leader and that he is the stereotypical tag-along brother, hu?

Source of Quote: Expo-Say

The event was filmed for Nelson’s music video to his song “You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore.” Boy, I sure think it’s funny!