Will Ferrell‘s filmography has been, more or less, stacked with his popular brand of outrageous, improv-style comedy. The classics are well-known (“Anchorman,” “Old School” “Step Brothers,” “Talladega Nights,” “Elf“) but duds have happened as well (“Semi-Pro,” “Land of the Lost,” “Bewitched,” “Casa De Mi Padre” “Get Hard,” “The Campaign“). Through it all Ferrell has managed to build a huge fan base that has made him a popular box-office draw for almost two decades now.
READ MORE: The Essentials: Will Ferrell’s Best Films
Just like his comedic counterparts (Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler and Bill Murray), Ferrell has managed to, from time to time, squeeze in a serious drama here and there, and, surprise, his range as an actor proved to be far greater than met the eye. In “Stranger Than Fiction” Ferrell provided, yes, sensitivity, emotional thrust, and a touching sense of gravity, in his unlikely romance with a young baker played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. “Everything Must Go” had Ferrell playing an alcoholic father that loses his wife, his son and, in the midst of a midlife crisis, decides to hold an epic yard sale on his front lawn. Want more? Check out “Melinda and Melinda,” Woody Allen‘s existential meditation on storytelling which featured a surprisingly endearing performance from Ferrell which had him mimicking Woody’s neurotic stammer better than anyone had in more than a decade.
READ MORE: Ranked: Every Will Ferrell Movie Character
With all that being said, we’ll likely be seeing another serious role to Ferrell’s oeuvre as he has signed on to star in an adaptation of Jona Jonasson‘s “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared” which has been described as a darker cousin to “Forrest Gump.”
THR describes the book’s plot this way:
“The 100-Year-Old Man centers on a man who, on the night of his 100th birthday, escapes from his nursing home and hits the road, with the ensuing inadvertent adventure involving criminals, a bag of cash and an elephant. But his time on the run reveals that the former explosives expert was involved in some of the defining moments of the 20th century and that he crossed paths with figures such as Joseph Stalin, Sir Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle. Before long, past and present are on a collision course.”
It does sound Gump-esque to me. Nothing wrong with that. There’s been a Swedish film version already released, which garnered the film an Oscar nomination in 2014 for Makeup and Hair styling. More importantly, it ended up becoming one of the highest grossing Swedish movies of all-time. Jason George (“Narcos“) will write the screenplay for this new adaptation, but there is currently no director attached to the project. Suffice to say, we’ll be keeping a close eye on this project in the coming months.