Paramount Lands Comedy Spec ‘The Aliens Are Stealing Our Weed’ Starring Gina Rodriguez (EXCLUSIVE)

By Justin Kroll

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Paramount Pictures has landed the spec script “The Aliens Are Stealing Our Weed” with Gina Rodriguez attached to star, sources tell Variety.

“The Eternals” scribe Ryan Firpo penned the script. Rodriguez will also produce under her I Can and I Will banner alongside Kaz and Ryan Firpo’s Badlands. Molly Breeskin will executive produce through I Can and I Will.

The story follows Candice (Rodriguez) and Izzy, two hapless pot growers who, after their entire crop of weed inexplicably goes missing, uncover an alien conspiracy to steal the planet’s marijuana supply.

Sources say studio execs felt the story fell in line with other Paramount comedies like “Anchorman,” “Airplane!” and “Blazing Saddles,” and moved quickly to acquire it.

The project also gives Rodriguez another star vehicle in her development slate after her breakout role on the CW series “Jane the Virgin,” which won her a Golden Globe in 2015.

With the show now over, Rodriguez has stayed busy on both film and TV fronts. In 2019, she had the remake of the action-thriller “Miss Bala” at Sony, as well as the Netflix romantic comedy “Someone Great” and her Netflix animated series “Carmen Sandiego,” where she voices the title character.

She was most recently seen in “Kajillionaire” for Annapurna Pictures and is also executive producing the Disney Plus series “Diary of a Future President.”

Firpo has been on the rise since debuting his short “Ten Year,” which he wrote and directed. It caught the eye of several studio execs, including Marvel president Kevin Feige, who tapped Ryan and Kaz to pen “The Eternals,” which recently finished production. The Firpos also wrote the spec “Ruin.”

Rodriguez is repped by CAA. The Firpos are repped by UTA and LBI Entertainment.