Universal has bought a pitch from Neighbors co-writer Brendan O’Brien, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay in a seven-figure deal. Ferrell and McKay will produce the UNTITLED ESCAPED CONVICT COMEDY through their Gary Sanchez Productions banner, with Ferrell also attached to star. The action comedy centers on an escaped convict who teams up with an unlikely partner (Ferrell) to stop his girlfriend from getting married.
O’Brien will also produce with Ferrell and McKay, along with Gary Sanchez’s Jessica Elbaum. Chris Henchy will executive produce for the company, while Universal’s Erik Baiers will oversee for the studio.
O’Brien, who co-wrote Neighbors and the upcoming Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising with partner Andrew Jay Cohen, also wrote The House, a comedy at New Line starring Ferrell and Amy Poehler.
The convict comedy is the latest project to jump on Ferrell’s development slate, which also includes Russ & Roger with Josh Gad, Swear to God from a script by Justin Theroux and pilots at both Comedy Central and NBC. His recent credits include Daddy’s Home with Mark Wahlberg and Zoolander 2 with Ben Stiller.
McKay, meanwhile, recently took home an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Big Short, a script he co-wrote with Charles Randolph. Between Gary Sanchez and Gloria Sanchez Productions, McKay, Ferrell and Elbaum have dozens of projects in the works, including the recently announced The Hustlers at Scores, based on the New York Magazine article from Jessica Pressler.
Ferrell is repped by UTA and Mosaic.
McKay is repped by WME and Mosaic.
O’Brien is repped by UTA.
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Josh Lyons | Managing Editor
