EXCLUSIVE: Paramount has acquired The Island, an R-rated comedy feature pitch based on an idea from former Daily Show host Trevor Noah, enlisting Neighbors scribe Andrew Jay Cohen to adapt the screenplay.
The Island tells the story of two polar opposites — a successful alpha businesswoman and a hopelessly dedicated male high school teacher, who are the sole survivors of a plane crash on a deserted island and must rely on each other to stay alive. Sources said Covid lockdown inspired the idea from Noah.
While sources indicated that The Island has been at Paramount for some time, we’re told that Cohen only signed on to adapt the script earlier this year. Noah will produce alongside Sanaz Yamin through their Day Zero Productions’ first-look deal with the studio. Norman Aladjem will also produce for Mainstay Entertainment, with Rebekah Cheyne and Derek Van Pelt exec producing.
A comedic multi-hyphenate best known for hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central from 2015 to 2022, Noah has since then exec produced the MSNBC docuseries The Turning Point and hosted the Grammys three more times, bringing his tally to five. He released the Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated Netflix comedy special Trevor Noah: Where Was I in 2023. Currently hosting the weekly Spotify podcast What Now? with Trevor Noah, where he brings on celebrities, thought leaders, athletes, and friends to chat about the contemporary topics on everyone’s minds, he is repped by CAA, Mainstay Entertainment, and Hanson, Jacobsen, Teller.
Cohen co-wrote and exec produced Universal’s Neighbors comedies, starring Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron, and also co-wrote the Fox comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, starring Efron and Adam DeVine. Also known for writing and directing the Warner Bros comedy The House, starring Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, he is repped by by Aaron Brown at Avalon and Jeff Endlich at Yorn Levine.
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