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Will Ferrell is going to play an esports star in a new comedy

Get ready for the Talladega Nights of esports

Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell at the Zoolander 2 world premiere
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Michael McWhertor is a journalist with more than 17 years of experience covering video games, technology, movies, TV, and entertainment.

Veteran funnyman Will Ferrell will star in an upcoming comedy about the competitive world of esports, Legendary Pictures announced today. The untitled project will see Ferrell star as a member of a professional esports team, “an anomaly in a sport where players usually retire in their 20s due to slowing hand-eye coordination,” Legendary said in a release.

Ferrell has played that type of unlikely athlete before in comedies like Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Blades of Glory and Semi-Pro. He’ll appear in the comedy alongside some real-world professional players, like members of esports teams Evil Geniuses and Fnatic, who are in discussions to cameo in the film.

The esports comedy will be written by Michael Kvamme and Jordan Dunn, who worked on SpongeBob SquarePants 3, due in 2019.

It’s not clear what video game or genre Ferrell might play in the untitled film, but Legendary’s press release mentions League of Legends and Dota 2, citing their popularity, multimillion dollar purses and coverage from mainstream sports outlets.

Legendary, which produced this year’s Warcraft movie, is also working on movies and digital series based on The Pokémon Company’s Detective Pikachu and Dontnod Entertainment’s Life Is Strange.