New Line Cinema has landed the next Chris Farley biopic after a “highly competitive” bid.
DeadlineCiting sources, he reported that the film company had purchased the project for around $2.5 million.
Variety described efforts to achieve the project as “highly competitive.”
The biopic will star Paul Walter Hauser as the tragic SNL star who died of a drug overdose in 1997 at the age of 33.
Emmy Award winner Hauser, 37, will fulfill a long-held dream of playing the late star in a project directed by actor Josh Gad, 43, and produced by Lorne Michaels’ Broadway video banner, 79 years old, according to THR.
New Line Cinema has landed the next Chris Farley biopic following a “highly competitive” bidding (Farley pictured)
Deadline, citing sources, reported that the distribution company had purchased the project for around $2.5 million.
The script will be written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber and based on the New York Times bestselling biography, The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts, by Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby.
The biopic has the blessing of the Farley family and is currently being promoted in the film industry.
In 2021, Hauer discussed his long-standing desire to play Hauser on screen, telling THR: “I wanted to do a Chris Farley movie where he’s in rehab for half the movie and for the other half of the movie , is doing his things and his movies.
“I think I have a really great vision for that story, but I’m trying to lose weight and redefine myself as a person who makes healthy choices and as an actor.
“So the days when we do Fatty Arbuckle, Chris Farley or Ignatius J. Reilly in a movie have a very small window of time, and it gets smaller every week.”
Chris quickly found fame after being cast on Saturday Night Live in 1990, working alongside comedians such as Adam Sandler and Chris Rock.
NBC fired Chris and many others from the show five years later, but the actor soon began a successful film career, releasing Tommy Boy in 1995 and Black Sheep in 1996.
Despite his success, Chris struggled with addiction and obesity issues, checking into rehab 17 times during his years of fame.
Chris was found dead in his apartment, murdered by a cocaine and morphine overdose, in December 1997.
His body was found by his brother John.
Coronary atherosclerosis (a narrowing of the arteries supplying the heart muscle) was a major contributing factor to Farley’s death.
The SNL star tragically died of a drug overdose in 1997, at the age of 33 (pictured in 1996).
Emmy Award winner Hauser, 37, will fulfill his dream of playing the late star in a project.
Chris quickly found fame after being cast on Saturday Night Live in 1990, working alongside comedians such as Adam Sandler (pictured) and Chris Rock.
The project will be directed by actor Josh Gad, 43, (left) and produced by Broadway video banner Lorne Michaels (right), according to THR.
Chris was found dead in his apartment, murdered by a cocaine and morphine overdose, in December 1997 (pictured seven months before his death).
Blood tests also found that Farley had taken an antidepressant fluoxetine and an antihistamine, but these did not contribute to his death.
Farley was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 296 pounds at the time of his death.