Per THR, Paramount lays down low- to mid-six figures for comedy spec “Fun Size” from writer “The Colbert Report” writer Max Werner:

Loglines are being kept under wraps, but “Fun” is described as a cross between “Superbad” and “Adventures in Babysitting” that is set on Halloween.

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” ‘Fun Size’ is exactly the kind of project we’re targeting at Paramount: funny, smart and surprisingly emotional,” Schwartz said. “Rowinski put it on our radar before we’d even moved onto the lot. We weren’t planning on bringing anything in so soon, but the script was too good. We couldn’t wait.”

Said Werner: “I grew up on John Hughes films and miss those great character-based comedies that make you feel something. ‘Fun Size’ is about real characters who are smart, funny and a little bit offbeat.”

“Smart… funny… a little offbeat characters… surprisingly emotional… make you feel something.” Good markers to think about re any comedy script you write.

Oddly enough, in a live ‘office hour’ session last night with an online class I’m teaching, I said exactly the same thing: “Readers want to feel something when they read a script.”

So think about that script you’re currently working on. What in the story provides some emotional resonance for a reader?

Werner is repped by WME and Anonymous.

By my count, this is the 18th spec script to sell in 2010.