Laurel and Hardy Biopic Casts John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan
John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan are two actors who are incredibly funny and just as equally capable of heart-wrenching drama, which makes them the perfect pairing for a Laurel and Hardy biopic. Reilly and Coogan will headline the upcoming film titled Stan & Ollie, a BBC Films production that centers on the final 1953 tour of the iconic comedic duo.
Screen Daily reports that Reilly will portray robust American Oliver Hardy opposite Coogan’s thin Brit Stan Laurel in Stan & Ollie, which follows the pair on their real-life final tour in the UK in 1953. The variety show was poorly attended due to the duo’s age, and with their peak years long behind them, Laurel and Hardy question their place in show-business and their waning fame. But the low attendance numbers do nothing to dash their optimism, as Laurel and Hardy continue to entertain one another and in doing so, prove their enduring appeal.
Billed as a “portrait of their creative marriage,” the film finds Oliver coping with poor health and when the ghosts of their past continue to haunt them, the pair must persevere as they are faced with their greatest challenge yet.
Jon S. Baird (Filth) will direct the biopic based on a screenplay by Oscar-nominated scribe Jeff Pope, who previously penned the Coogan-starring Philomena. Laurel and Hardy appeared in 107 films together, including silent pictures and shorts, and became icons of comedy throughout the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s, appearing in their final film together — Atoll K — in 1957.