Will Ferrell to Play Jason Momoa’s TV Show Dad in New Comedy

Will Ferrell and Jason Momoa are joining forces to play a father/son duo, in a manner of speaking. Momoa is currently playing Arthur Curry aka. Aquaman in director James Wan’s upcoming DC Extended Universe feature, following the official start of production on Aquaman this week. Meanwhile, just a week before Momoa’s next appearance on the big screen as Arthur Curry (in Zack Snyder’s Justice League) hits theaters this November, Ferrell will be reuniting with his The Other Guys and Daddy’s Home costar Mark Wahlberg for the comedy sequel, Daddy’s Home 2.

Ferrell and Momoa are themselves as much, if not more, of an odd-couple pairing than Ferrell and Wahlberg; what with the former being best known for his absurdist comedy movie turns and the latter having firmly established himself as a brawny action star presence, thanks to his roles in Game of Thrones, the 2011 Conan the Barbarian reboot and now as Aquaman in the DCEU. It’s perhaps for that very reason that the duo are now being brought together to act opposite one another, in an upcoming, as-yet untitled comedy project.

Deadline is reporting that said comedy pitch – which writing duo Andy Mogel and Jarrad Paul are turning into a screenplay – has Ferrell attached to play a washed-up TV actor who then reunites with his former onscreen son (Momoa), with the latter having since developed into a mega-star in his own right. The logline for the movie is under wraps at the moment, but Deadline‘s sources report that the pitch is being described by those in the know as “Galaxy Quest meets Ocean’s Eleven.”

The Galaxy Quest comparison can seemingly be attributed to the Ferrell/Momoa vehicle being about a washed-up TV star who needs to get their groove back, so to speak (a la the aforementioned and beloved Star Trek parody), while the Ocean’s Eleven comparison indicates there may be either a heist and/or an ensemble element to this comedy project.

Mogel and Paul are the creators of the critically-acclaimed Rob Lowe-headlined comedy TV series The Grinder, a show that revolves around a former television star who aims to turn over a new leaf, similar to this Ferrell and Momoa collaboration. The writers read as being a good fit for the project for related reasons, while its stars likewise come off as being appropriate picks for their respective roles. In general, pairing Ferrell with another, seemingly ill-fitting actor has yielded success thus far, as evidenced by Ferrell’s multiple collaborations with Wahlberg, as well as actor John C. Reilly.

Speaking of Ferrell and Reilly (who have costarred in such movies as Talladega Nights and Step Brothers together), the two are teaming up again in the upcoming Holmes and Watson; a comedic take on the Sherlock Holmes franchise. Both Ferrell and Momoa have relatively open work schedules after the pair finish their current in-development projects, so the two actors may wind up starting work on this comedy of theirs within the next year or so.

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