Chris Farley biopic in development with Paul Walter Hauser as lead and Josh Gad to direct

There’s a Chris Farley biopic in development that is currently on sale in Hollywood based on the biography, The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts.

Cobra Kai AND Black Bird actor Paolo Walter Hauser will play Farley in the film and Josh Gad will direct the film with Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live) as producer.

The biography was written by Farley’s brother, Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby. The family also gave their blessing to the project.

Farley was insanely funny! I loved watching her on SNL and the movies she made were so damn funny! That boy had explosive energy and it’s so sad that his life was cut short so short.

As a fan, I’m very excited to see how this biography turns out. There is a great creative team behind it and Paul Walter Hauser will definitely be fantastic in the role! Then there’s Gad, who will make his directorial debut with the film.

The book’s description reads: “No one has commanded a stage like Chris Farley has. For him, comedy was not a routine; it was a lifestyle. He couldn’t walk into a room without being noticed or interrupt a conversation without making someone laugh.

“Fans knew Chris as the sweaty, swaggering, motivational speaker on Saturday Night Live; as the irresistible stripper of the Chippendales; and as Tommy Callahan, the underdog hero of Tommy Boy. His family knew him as a sensitive and passionate man, deeply religious and dedicated to bringing smiles to the lives of others.

“But Chris knew no moderation, either in his boundless generosity to friends or in his reckless abandon of drug and alcohol abuse. For ten years Chris cycled in and out of rehab centers, constantly battling his insecurities and fears.

“Despite three hard-fought years of sobriety, addiction ultimately took his life at the tragically young age of thirty-three. Fame on SNL and three consecutive box office hits gave way to a series 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 heartbreaking portrait of a family trapped by addiction, a father forced to bury a son, and a gifted, kind-hearted man ultimately torn apart by the demons within him.”

Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber wrote the film’s screenplay. Their list of credits includes The disaster artist, The fault in our stars AND (500 days of summer.

Source: deadline