Phillips to make 'Due Date', 'Hangover 2'

Director Todd Phillips has signed a deal with Warner Bros to make road trip comedy Due Date and a follow-up to his box office hit The Hangover.

Due Date, which will star The Hangover's Zach Galifianakis, centres on a soon-to-be father and his friend as they travel across the country to make the birth of his first child.

The comedy is expected to begin filming in October, with the movie opening next June. Phillips will then move on to The Hangover 2, which will shoot in October 2010 for a 2011 release.

The Hangover has just passed the $210 million mark in the US, netting Phillips a reported $35 million after the director sacrificed his salary for a cut of the movie's profits.

Speaking to Variety, he credited his cast of up-and-coming stars for the film's success.

"To me, the casting was as crystal clear as it was on Old School," he said. "I remember some executives just didn't understand the casting, and on The Hangover, I felt we'd been seeing the same faces in a lot of comedies, and that it was time to mix it up."

> Click here to read our recent interview with the stars of The Hangover