Chris Farley movie in the works from Lorne Michaels, Josh Gad, and Paul Walter Hauser

“Saturday Night Live” legend Chris Farley’s funny, sad, tragically brief life is getting the biopic treatment from producer Lorne Michaels and director Josh Gad, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning “Black Bird” star Paul Walter Hauser has been tapped to play Farley. The script is by “Daisy Jones & the Six” creators Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and based on the bestselling book “The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts” by Farley’s brother Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby. “SNL” boss Michaels will produce through his Broadway Video banner. The project, which is being shopped to studios now, has the blessing of the Farley family. 

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Gad, who is best known for his performances in the Disney films “Frozen” and “Beauty and the Beast” and the Broadway shows “The Book of Mormon” and “Gutenberg! The Musical,” will be making his feature directorial debut with the biopic.

Farley was one of comedy’s biggest stars of the 1990s, rising to fame on “SNL” playing iconic characters like motivational speaker Matt Foley and an aspiring Chippendales dancer before starring in movies like “Tommy Boy” and “Beverly Hills Ninja.” He was known for his high-energy physical comedy, his incredibly comedic yelling ability, and the childlike innocence he brought to his performances. But he struggled with alcoholism, drug addiction, and obesity, and he died of an overdose in 1997. He was 33. 

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