Will Ferrell to Star in Talladega Nights-Style E-Sports Movie

Variety is reporting that the entertainment company Legendary is producing a movie about e-sports starring Will Ferrell.

The movie will be written by Michael Kvamme and Jordan Dunn, whose only feature writing credits are for the forthcoming third Spongebob Squarepants movie. The comedy will follow Ferrell as an aged e-sports player in a field where players often retire young “due to slowing hand-eye coordination.” Though there’s no word on what game will be featured in the movie, Fnatic and Evil Geniuses, two e-sports organizations best known for their successes in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2, respectively, are in talks to appear.

Variety says that the movie will be in the vein of Talladega Nights, which, along with Semi-Pro and Blades of Glory, is definitely what a “Will Ferrell does a sport” movie brings to mind. Those movies, with maybe the exception of Semi-Pro, poked fun at their respective sports and the cultures around them, but they also took their respective competitions seriously when it came to the plot. Talladega Nights, in particular, clearly has an affection for NASCAR fandom and Southern culture in general, which comes through in between its jokes and teasing.

Hollywood’s history with portraying videogames is rough at best, with the medium and its fans often used as the butt of jokes (looking at you, Pixels), but if Ferrell and company can nail that Talladega Nights mix of teasing and affection, then there’s no reason an e-sports comedy shouldn’t work. Getting an audience to understand whatever the hell is going on in Dota is another story.

The movie doesn’t have a title or release date yet.