Actor is writer and star of feature based on the international singing competition

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Will Ferrell is set to star in a Netflix film based around the Eurovision song contest.

Eurovision 2018: five things we learned Read more

According to Deadline, the Anchorman and Elf actor will headline the comedy after writing the script with Andrew Steele. The pair has previously worked on Casa de mi Padre and Lifetime parody A Deadly Adoption.

Ferrell was seen at this year’s contest in Lisbon and revealed that he’s been a big fan since his Swedish wife introduced him to it in 1999. Eurovision has been a major music fixture since 1956 and over 186m viewers tuned in to this year’s edition.

It will mark Ferrell’s second film with the platform after last month’s release of Ibiza, a comedy he produced starring Gillian Jacobs. The platform has been signing a host of comedy A-listers ever since their multi-picture deal with Adam Sandler. They have since made a number of standup signings including Chris Rock, Amy Schumer and Jerry Seinfeld.

The film joins a number of major original properties heading to Netflix over the next few years, including Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, and Michael Bay’s potential franchise-starting action film Six Underground starring Ryan Reynolds.

Ferrell was last seen in the hit sequel Daddy’s Home 2 and will next be on the big screen alongside John C Reilly and Ralph Fiennes in Holmes and Watson, a comedic take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s mystery series. He also recently sold a documentary series about the global economy at Amazon with Anchorman director Adam McKay.