By Mike Pomranz | FoodAndWine.Com
Troy Warren for CNT #Foodie
What’s the deal with Pop-Tarts? Jerry Seinfeld is planning to explain it to us in feature film form.
The famed stand-up comic and sitcom star is directing, producing, starring in, and co-writing a movie entitled Unfrosted, and similar to how Seinfeld’s eponymous TV show often had plots that verged on being “about nothing,” this forthcoming film also doesn’t sound particularly heavy in the plot department: It’s about the origin of Pop-Tarts.
Who would want a movie about Pop-Tarts, you may ask? Well, when one of the biggest comic stars of a generation is involved, apparently everyone. Back in June, Deadline broke the news that the movie — which is co-written by Seinfeld alum Spike Feresten and comedian Barry Marder — was involved in a bit of a bidding war, with Netflix eventually winning the rights to the project.
And this week, Unfrosted is back in the news again as even the state of California is onboard with this toaster pastry tribute. On Monday, the California Film Commission announced the movie was one of 30 that had been awarded lucrative tax credits, with Seinfeld’s production receiving $14.2 million in credits to keep this Pop-Tart blockbuster from looking for less expensive locations in another state. One report pegged the budget at nearly $70 million.
“We are so happy to get the California tax credit which enables us to make our whole movie there,” Seinfeld said according to Variety. “Having made all of the Seinfeld series in L.A., I very much wanted to come back and shoot there again. On behalf of everyone working on the movie, we really appreciate the great welcome.”
So what is this multimillion dollar Pop-Tart flick even about? Details are slim, but Seinfeld has said it’s based around one of his popular stand-up bits where he describes the moment he discovered Pop-Tarts as a child. He even once did a five-minute breakdown of the joke for The New York Times. “Stuck at home [during the pandemic] watching endless sad faces on TV, I thought this would be a good time to make something based on pure silliness,” Seinfeld told Dateline over the summer. “So we took my Pop-Tart stand-up bit from my last Netflix special and exploded it into a giant, crazy comedy movie.”
The film is reportedly slated to start shooting in May. No release date is set at this time.
