Despite a tough start to his career in which the comedic writer/director saw several TV shows get critical acclaim but got cancelled swiftly, Judd Apatow has pretty much changed the shape of contemporary comedy. While hardly amazing, the films he has overseen as director or producer have garnered plenty of fans and often plenty of cash at the box-office. So it’s strange to see him reprise characters from a previous success.

According to Variety, Apatow’s next film (due out in the summer of 2012) will feature two characters from his biggest success to date, Knocked Up. Actors Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife) will reprise their roles as Debbie and Pete, the not so loving couple who deliver plenty of poor advice to Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen’s character. Unfortunately, that’s about it in terms of information about the project. We’ve no idea whether Rogen or Heigl will make an appearance, whether the film is about the couple’s early days, or whether it’s a completely separate spin-off.

It’s also saddening to see Apatow delve back into a previous success. Despite films he produced, like Superbad and Pineapple Express, exceeding box-office expectations his last directorial effort, Funny People, was a significant failure. Is this an attempt of desperation from a film-maker who is tired of failure, or does he have another great idea (if you haven’t seen the charming The 40 Year-Old Virgin, get it now) up his sleeve?