LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Let those other filmmakers focus on world destruction or masked superheroes or beautiful people doing beautiful things.



Jason Bateman plays the owner of an extract factory in "Extract," Mike Judge's latest.



Mike Judge prefers to deal with real life.



Judge, writer and director of "Office Space" and co-creator of the TV series "King of the Hill," has long liked to set his work in the world of malfunctioning copiers and beer-drinking propane salesmen. Even his wicked satire of the future, "Idiocracy," focused on the inanities of everyday life, just set 500 years from now.



His new film, "Extract," is no exception: It's about a factory owner, Joel (Jason Bateman), who must deal with a host of employee problems as well as a chilly wife.



Of course, Joel's solutions aren't exactly the stuff of Solomon, but such is the way of comedy.



Bateman understands Judge's motivations.



"He likes to keep everything very middle-of-the-road common people, small town, small problems, relatable, blue-collar," said the actor, who called Judge "a ninja of comedy." "And those people, they run extract factories; they make drywall. I mean, it's the stuff that we all need often goes unnoticed; he likes to write about those people, and I'm glad he does."



"Extract," which also stars Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, J.K. Simmons and a long-haired and heavily bearded Ben Affleck, opens Friday. Judge talked to CNN about his subject matter and his cast. The following is an edited version of the interview.



CNN: Where did this idea come from? I'd read that you worked in a factory before.



Mike Judge: Yeah, it kind of came from all over the place. I've worked many jobs, and I did work in a factory a couple times -- a place that made guitar amps, and then I worked in a place in Albuquerque [New Mexico], where I grew up, that stuffed those snack boxes with Fritos and candy bars and stuff.



CNN: Casting for the film, how did that come together? Did you have a set idea in your head?



Judge: When I first wrote the first draft, I wasn't thinking about anybody in particular and, then I saw "Arrested Development" years later. I['d] put the script on the shelf and thought Jason Bateman would be perfect, so I did a rewrite thinking about him but no one in particular for the other characters. I just wrote it and then just did kind of the normal casting process.



But then, we were reading people for the character of [Joel's friend] Dean, and my casting director comes in one day and said, "Ben Affleck is interesting." And I thought, "Really, I've never met the guy." And I [also] thought, "Yeah, but he's like strapping, handsome leading-man guy."



Then I started thinking about it, and I love him when he's a character actor like in "Dazed and Confused" or "Shakespeare in Love," and then I met him, and he just got it. He had this take on him based on a guy he went to high school with. We did a read-through the script, and him and Jason just killing me, I just thought it was just really funny. You know, he was willing to get out of his leading man look and grow a beard. It was really fun.



CNN: It was fun to see him do that. It was a different dynamic.



Judge: Yeah. I think Ben, actually, I think he enjoyed being this character. I think he hasn't gotten to do something like that in a while.



In fact, we had a big break [during shooting]. ... And he has one scene in the factory,
Who stars in the film? Who does the film star? What genre is "Extract"?
Jason Bateman Jason Bateman comedy.
question: Who stars in the film?, answer: Jason Bateman | question: Who does the film star?, answer: Jason Bateman | question: What genre is "Extract"?, answer: comedy.