Everybody’s favorite medieval wizard named Xanax is preparing to once again engage in the timeless British tradition of stealing from the French. Ricky Gervais has signed on to write, direct, and star in a remake of the 2009 French comedy Special Correspondents. The new film will cover the story of a once-popular radio journalist, played by Eric Bana, and his technician (Gervais), who are assigned to cover a rebel uprising in Ecuador. Instead, they fake their own kidnapping by rebels, reporting on their supposed plight while hiding out in a New York City apartment. As the situation escalates, they’re eventually forced to sneak into Ecuador and connect with their ostensible kidnappers. (It’s basically “Radio Bart,” only Gervais will presumably replace the epic ballad “We’re Sending Our Love Down The Well” with the more thematically appropriate “We’re Sending Our Love To Wherever Ecuadoran Rebels Hide Out.”)
The original Special Correspondents was set in Iraq, but has been repurposed, probably because things are going so well there now that no one would believe such a violent incident could occur. It will be the first solo directing gig for Gervais, who previously co-helmed The Invention Of Lying and Cemetery Junction. Special Correspondents is set to begin shooting in spring of 2015.