Chris Farley Biopic Starring Paul Walter Hauser Picked Up By New Line

Josh Gad’s Chris Farley biopic has landed with New Line. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film, which is set to star Paul Walter Hauser as the late Farley, has been picked up by New Line following what was described as a “highly competitive situation”. Gad is set to direct the film.

The biopic is to be based on New York Times best-selling biography, The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts written by Farley’s brother Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber will adapt the book for screen and the project is said to have the Farley family’s blessing. Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels and Erin David are serving as producers for Broadway Video on the film.

The film will tell Farley’s story as one of the greatest comic actors of his generation. Farley notably grew to prominence on Saturday Night Live, which he joined in 1990, as part of an ensemble that include greats such as Adam Sandler, David Spade, Phil Hartman, and Rob Schneider, with Farley quickly becoming a standout with iconic sketches including “Van Down By the River” and characters such as the motivational speaker Matt Foley. Farley’s star continued to rise on the big screen as well, with hit films such as Tommy Boy in 1995 and Black Sheep in 1996. Sadly, Farley died of a drug overdose in 1997 at the age of 33.

Hauser is best known for his role in Black Bird, for which he won a Golden Globe Award. He will also next appear in Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2, where he voices Embarrassment and is also set to appear in Apple’s The Instigators as well as Americana, opposite Sydney Sweeney. He has also starred in films such as Richard Jewell, I, Tonya, and Cruella, as well as the television series Cobra Kai. Hauser has previously spoken about wanting to play Farley and bring his story to screen, even telling The Hollywood Reporter back in 2021 that he had approached the Farley family about a potential project.

For Gad, his work includes Disney’s Frozen, Beauty and the Beast and Murder on the Orient Express, as well as various Broadway musicals, including Book of Mormon and Gutenberg! The Chris Farley biopic will mark his directorial debut.