This is 40, Judd Apatow‘s sort-of-sequel to the alleged ‘blockbuster hit’ Knocked Up, continues to limp its way towards the grave this week with five new clips released, convincing us all that there’s really no need to see it. This is 40 follows the story of Pete, Deb and their two kids, a family introduced on the sideline of Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl‘s issues in Knocked Up. Pete and Deb, played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann, might actually have been the best thing about Knocked Up, stealing the scenes they were in, but the question remains if they really deserved their own spin-off film.

Whilst early clips of comedies like This is 40 tend to ruin the actual film by revealing all of the best jokes, in this case Apatow is hopefully saving the best bits for the cinema. Either that or it’s just not very funny.

Leslie Mann, the wife of director and writer Judd Apatow, is a comedy veteran, and her two children with Apatow are also key players in This is 40. Maude and Iris Apatow garner these clips with the majority of the laughs, particularly Maude’s baffled disgust at the idea of wholesome outdoor activities like kick-the-can whilst her younger sister pretends to be a talking monkey using her iPhone. Paul Rudd is widely acknowledged to be wonderful, hilarious, and gorgeous and is probably a really nice guy in real life so we have everything crossed that This is 40 turns out alright in the end.

The film also stars Apatow stalwart Jason Segel alongside Bridesmaids‘ Melissa McCarthy and our own IT Crowd‘s Chris O’Dowd. Megan Fox in a bikini is also thrown into a pool for desperate measure. The otherwise solid comedic pedigree of the cast gives us hope that Apatow might just pull it out of the bag, for Mike Hannigan’s sake.

How do you feel about this Apatow venture? Should his cute and hilarious children have been kept behind closed doors? Will Paul Rudd still be amazing? Tell us below.