Josh Gad-Directed Chris Farley Biopic Picked Up By New Line Cinema

Tony Award-nominated actor Josh Gad will make his directorial debut with a biopic centering on legendary comic Chris Farley.

Deadline is now reporting that the project has officially been picked up by New Line Cinema.

Based on the biography The Chris Farley Show: A Biography In Three Acts, the project will be led by Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell, Cruella) as Farley.

Josh Gad, known for his role as Elder Cunningham in The Book of Mormon and as the voice of Olaf in the Frozen franchise, will be directing the film with Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels producing through his Broadway Video banner.

Michaels worked directly with Farley during his heyday in the 1990s and the film will depict many of the events from the days when Farley was on the sketch show. Reports suggest that the Farley family has given their blessing to the film.

Though this marks Gad's directorial debut, he has appeared as an actor in numerous film, television, and theater projects. He was most recently on Broadway in the comedy Gutenberg! The Musical!, where he reunited with The Book of Mormon co-star Andrew Rannells. That show ran as a limited engagement from October 12, 2023 until January 28, 2024 at the James Earl Jones.