Nearly 30 years after his death, Chris Farley‘s biopic is inching closer toward production with Paul Walter Hauser starring as the Saturday Night Live alum.
Josh Gad, who was announced to direct A Chris Farley Story for New Line last year, recently shared an update on the “ambitious” upcoming project, which he hopes “to shoot early next year.”
“It’s ambitious as hell,” Gad told Entertainment Weekly, adding: “We’re trying to rein in the budget a little, and the plan is still to shoot early next year.”
After Hauser told EW, “I don’t wanna be 42 years old playing Chris at 25,” Gad agreed, “I, too, don’t want Paul to get too much older [to play him].”
Gad said, “I’m in the midst of going through the script right now with the studio, who’s been incredibly supportive about finding those things that can reduce it to a greenlight-able budget because, right now, it’s a period piece, it’s a biopic, it’s just super big, and we’re just working towards doing this to it, and I think we’re getting there.”
After Deadline exclusively reported in April 2024 that New Line was in the process of jumping on Gad’s pitch for a feature adaptation of The Chris Farley Show, the biography written by Farley’s brother Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby. The deal was closed days later.
Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, A Chris Farley Story is produced by Lorne Michaels and Erin David under Broadway Video.
The post Josh Gad Hopes To Film “Ambitious” Chris Farley Biopic In Early 2026: “It’s Just Super Big” appeared first on Deadline.
