Chris Farley Biopic in Development with Paul Walter Hauser Set To Star and Josh Gad Directing
There’s a Chris Farley biopic being developed that’s currently being shopped around Hollywood based on the biography, The Chris Farley Show: A Biography In Three Acts.
Cobra Kai and Black Bird actor Paul Walter Hauser is set to play Farley in the film and Josh Gad is set to direct with Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live) producing.
The biography was written by Farley’s brother Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby. The family has also given their blessing on the project.
Farley was insanely funny! I loved watching him on SNL and the films he made were so much damn fun! The guy had the most explosive energy, and it’s so sad that his life was cut so short.
As a fan, I’m very excited about seeing how this biography will turn out. It’s got a great creative team behind it and Paul Walter Hauser is sure to be awesome in the role! Then there’s Gad, who will be making his feature film directing debut with the movie.
The description of the book reads: “No one dominated a stage the way Chris Farley did. For him, comedy was not a routine; it was a way of life. He could not enter a room unnoticed or let a conversation go without making someone laugh.
“Fans knew Chris as Saturday Night Live’s sweaty, swaggering, motivational speaker; as the irresistible Chippendales stripper; and as Tommy Callahan, the underdog hero of Tommy Boy. His family knew him as sensitive and passionate, deeply religious, and devoted to bringing laughter into others’ lives.
“But Chris did not know moderation, either in his boundless generosity toward friends or in the reckless abandon of his drug and alcohol abuse. For ten years, Chris cycled in and out of rehabilitation centers, constantly fighting his insecurities and his fears.
“Despite three hard-fought years of sobriety, addiction would ultimately take his life at the tragically young age of thirty-three. Fame on SNL and three straight number-one box office hits gave way to a string of embarrassing public appearances, followed by a fatal overdose in December 1997.
Here is Chris Farley as remembered by his family, friends, and colleagues—the true story of a man who lived to make us laugh and died as a result.
“The Chris Farley Show is an evocative and harrowing portrait of a family trapped by addiction, a father forced to bury a son, and a gifted and kindhearted man ultimately torn apart by the demons inside him.”
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber wrote the script for the movie. Their list of credits includes The Disaster Artist, The Fault in Our Stars and (500) Days of Summer.
Source: Deadline