Josh Gad to Play Legendary Film Critic Roger Ebert in New Comedy

Variety reports that Josh Gad will take on the role of legendary film critic Roger Ebert in the STX comedy RUSS & ROGER GO BEYOND. " The Tony nominee joins castmember Will Ferrell, who will portray sexploitation maestro Russ Meyer. Michael Winter directs.

The project is described as a "debauched comedy where truth is crazier than fiction, the film is an OUTRAGEOUS look at two no-holds-barred outsiders who defied the Hollywood establishment to make one of the first X-rated films ever released by a major movie studio ("Beyond the Valley of the Dolls") - having the party of a lifetime in the process."

Emmy-winning "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons" writer Christopher Cluess penned the script along with Winterbottom, Neil Gibbons. Production will get underway in late 2015.

Gad's Broadway credits include BOOK OF MORMON and 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE.
On film, he was recently seen in "The Wedding Ringer" and Sony's "Pixels" and will soon lend his voice to the DreamWorks Animation film "Me and My Shadow."

The actor just finished filming on Disney's live-action reboot of "Beauty and the Beast" where he plays sidekick LeFou. The film will hit theaters in March 2017.

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