The Best and the Brightest is out on DVD from this Tuesday, August 16! Pre-order it now from Amazon, or add it to your Netflix queue now!

Thanks to the commercial success of The Smurfs, a sequel has been announced, due for release in 2013. It’s unclear at this stage if Neil will be involved. There’s also a good interview with Neil at Buzzine from a few weeks ago on the Smurf promo trail.

Neil has signed up to take on the on screen role of the magic mirror in Lythgoe Family Productions’ British style pantomime A Snow White Christmas this December.

And the first trailer for A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas was released this week, check it out below!

The Best and the Brightest is opening theatrically in New York and LA this week, and you can read all about it in this blog on the official site.

You can catch the limited run at the Laemmle Sunset 5 (Los Angeles) and the Quad Cinema (New York), running June 24-30, and find details on more screenings in Pennsylvania, Oregon, Florida, Washington, Utah and Brooklyn here.

And if that weren’t enough, the cast are doing their bit to promote, too – Neil will be on Conan this Monday night, which you can catch at 11/10c on tbs. Additionally, Amy Sedaris will be on Letterman on Tuesday, John Hodgman is hitting The Daily Show on Thursday, and Christopher McDonald will be at the Apple Store, Soho, with co-writer/director Josh Shelov at 6pm on Thursday.

The Best and the Brightest continues its sneak preview assault on the USA with a trip to Houston on April 21st at 7.30pm. The film will be showing at the Landmark River Oaks Theater and tickets, available to purchase here, cost just $10. Check out this crowd reactions video, recorded at the LA screening Tuesday night, to see what people who’d just seen the movie really thought about it!

The Best and the Brightest is also an official selection of the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival and will be screening at the Lakeview Theater this coming Saturday (April 16th) at 7pm.

For a full list of screenings on sale so far, check this page on the official website. In addition to Houston, currently announced cities include Dubuque, Iowa; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Washington DC, and Newport, Rhode Island. International dates coming soon!

And if you missed Neil’s stint as Bobby in ‘Company’ last week, you’ll be able to catch it in cinemas nationwide starting June 15th – Neil’s birthday! Variety reports that the New York Philharmonic have partnered with Screenvision to bring the show to multiplexes across the USA.

Finally, the Otago Daily Times has a short “Five minutes with…” interview with Neil.

Check out this interview with Neil to promote The Best and the Brightest!

If you haven’t had chance to make it to one of the screenings yet, the trailer is out now!

Upcoming sneak preview dates:

April 1 – New Haven, CT
April 7 – New York, NY
April 11 & 12 – Los Angeles, CA
April 15 & 16 – Philadelphia, PA
April 16 – Lake Arrowhead, CA
April 21 – Houston, TX
April 21 & 22 – Dubuque, IA
April 28 – 30 – Columbus, OH

More to be announced!

The Best and the Brightest is currently in the process of screening, or arranging screenings, around the world. But if there isn’t one near you, or even if there is, you can now pre-order on amazon.com! The movie will be available on DVD from August 16th.

The movie is also available to add to your Netflix queue!

Neil and David will be taking part in the Ojai Playwrights Conference annual benefit, joining a lineup that includes Jane Kaczmarek, Stacy Keach, Ron Rifkin, Steven Weber and Noah Wyle.

The event, themed “Substance of Desire”, will take place on Saturday, March 26 at 5.30pm, and will be a celebration of “love, lust and laughter in the plays of Brothers & Sisters creator Jon Robin Baitz. Baitz penned ‘The Paris Letter’, which Neil performed in with Josh Radnor and Ron Rifkin in 2004, and both Neil and David have performed at the conference in previous years.

Tickets for the benefit range from $85 for the Show only to a $2000 VIP package including preferred seating and a group photo with the cast. Visit www.ojaiplays.org for full details.

The Best and the Brightest has announced that tickets for its’ first screenings in LA (at The Cinefamily on N. Fairfax Ave) are now on sale. The previews will be on Monday April 11th, with Bridget Regan in attendance – and Tuesday April 12th, with Bonnie Somerville doing the Q&A honours this time. Tickets for both days are $10 and you can buy them here for Monday and here for Tuesday. Stay tuned for news on previews in other cities around the world!

Finally, Entertainment Weekly has published the first picture from The Smurfs that features Neil with the Smurfs themselves! Check it out here.

The Best & The Brightest has some distribution news!

From late August/September (date TBD) the video will be available to purchase via DVD/On Demand/various other forms, thanks to the movie’s new distribution partners New Video (domestic) and Echo Bridge (international). There will also be a theatrical opening in LA and New York, with preview screenings around the world (all those ‘demands’ weren’t for nothing!) over the spring and summer.

For full details, check out the blog.

As previously mentioned, there is a screening at The Bell House in Park Slope, Brooklyn, on Saturday March 19th at 8pm (Tickets $10). Star Bonnie Somerville has been added to the guest list, and additionally, there will also be a screening on Friday March 18th at the same venue. Special guests for this one include Bonnie, Jenna Stern, Kelly Coffield & Steve Park, as well as writer-director Josh Shelov. Tickets are available here and also cost $10.

According to Variety, Neil is close to finalising a deal to direct the pilot of a currently untitled Peter Knight comedy for CBS. Knight’s previous work includes Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, and Bad Wolf on Campus. The pilot is a multicamera “workplace ensemble featuring a group of assistants and junior executives as they juggle love, friendship, and the corporate ladder”.

There’s a screening of The Best and the Brightest taking place at The Bell House in Brooklyn, on Saturday March 19th at 8pm. Special guests at the screening include TBatB stars John Hodgman and Jenna Stern, and the movie’s writer-director Josh Shelov. Tickets are available now and cost $10.

The Best and the Brightest premieres tonight at the Philadelphia Film Festival. Cast members Bonnie Somerville, Jenna Stern, Peter Serafinowicz and John Hodgman will be in attendance, along with writer/director Josh Shelov. The premiere is sold out but there are still tickets available for the screenings on Monday 18th and Sunday 24th.

Set in the world of New York City’s elite private kindergartens, THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST centers on a fresh-faced young couple from Delaware, Jeff (Neil Patrick Harris) and Samantha (Bonnie Somerville), who have only recently moved into town. The comedy centers on the extreme lengths they must go to in order to get their five-year old daughter into school.

Ahead of the premiere, The Best and the Brightest has launched a new website with cast and crew bios, a blog, and the ever-popular “demand a screening” feature. Be sure to log on to bestnbrightestmovie.com and request a screening in your town/nearest city/country.

Here are a couple of snippets of things director Josh Shelov has to say about Neil’s involvement in the movie.

The catalyst was when Amy Sedaris signed on – she’s so brilliant, and is so beloved by other actors, that she acted as a talent magnet. Neil Patrick Harris had heard about Amy’s involvement and was dying to work with her – fortunately he liked the script and signed on. After that everything happened pretty fast – Kate Mulgrew and Christopher McDonald and Bonnie Somerville and Peter Serafinowicz and Bridget Regan and Jenna Stern signed on soon after, and we were off.

Creatively, it’s just a dream working with actors of this caliber. Neil is just incredible – I don’t think he flubbed a syllable during the entire shoot, no lie – and yet he’s always raw and real every time, too. I’m insane about our leading lady, Bonnie Somerville – I think she’s literally perfect as Sam.

If anybody attends the premiere, please get in touch and let us know what you thought!