New Line snaps up Josh Gad-directed Chris Farley biopic starring Emmy winner Paul Walter Hauser

Variety reports that New Line Cinema is backing a Chris Farley biopic that will star Black Bird actor Paul Walter Hauser as the Saturday Night Live superstar.

Farley died on December 18, 1997, at just 33 years old.

As reported, Frozen‘s Josh Gad will be making his directorial debut on the film that will be produced by SNL icon Lorne Michaels and based on the 2009 bestseller The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts, written by Farley’s brother Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby.

The trade says studios were “highly competitive” trying to snag the project, but Warner Bros. Discovery-owned New Line came out on top.

Before snagging an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award for Black Bird, Hauser logged memorable comedic and dramatic performances in movies including I, Tonya, Queenpins and Cruella.

He’ll next be heard in theaters on June 14 as the voice of Embarrassment in Disney/Pixar’s forthcoming Inside Out 2.