Will Ferrell’s Eurovision film: what we know so far
US comedy star to write and star in Netflix Original movie about the song contest
Will Ferrell’s next project will be a comedy set in the eccentric world of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Deadline reports that the premise of Eurovision “revolves around the wildly popular and long-running international TV music competition”.
So what do we know about the forthcoming film?
Ferrell will write, produce and star in the project
Eurovision is clearly a labour of love for the Anchorman star. As well as taking the lead role, he is one of the film’s producers and will also write the script, alongside former Saturday Night Live head writer Andrew Steele.
Ferrell’s comedy-writing chops are well established - he and partner Adam McKay have penned a string of box office hits including Anchorman, Step Brothers and The Other Guys.
It will be a musical
Unsurprisingly, given the setting, Eurovision is being described as a “musical”, which would give Ferrell a chance to show off the singing skills he memorably demonstrated in Step Brothers.
As for the movie’s actual plot, the producers are “keeping mum” for now, says Vulture, “but it’s not too wild to imagine Ferrell portraying an eccentric performer trying to win the competition”.
He did on-the-ground research at this year’s contest
Eagle-eyed viewers spotted Ferrell among the revellers at this year’s contest in Lisbon last month, sitting alongside “a senior figure from European Broadcasting Union”, Buzzfeed reports.
The presence of an American movie star at a quintessentially European institution might have surprised some onlookers, but it turns out Ferrell is a hardcore Eurovision fan.
The star told French website 20 Minutes that he has been watching the contest since his Swedish wife introduced him to the phenomenon in 1999. His appearance in Lisbon wasn’t even his first time at Eurovision - he also attended the 2014 final in Copenhagen.
It will be made by Netflix
Eurovision will be a Netflix Original, available for instant streaming on the site upon its as-yet-unknown release date.
Ferrell joins Will Smith, Ben Stiller and Angelina Jolie on a growing list of Hollywood stars making films for the streaming service, which plans to release 86 feature-length Originals this year, Fortune reports - “far more than every other top studio competitor”.
