Will Ferrell to Star in Netflix Eurovision Comedy

Will Ferrell is set to star in a Netflix comedy based on the Eurovision Song Contest, according to a report on Deadline.

Ferrell will be writing the film with Andrew Steele, former head writer of Saturday Night Live. Deadline provides the following background information on the project:

“The premise revolves around the wildly popular and long running international TV music competition The Eurovision Song Contest. It is a contest that began in Switzerland in 1956, when seven West European nations participated. This year 43 countries competed for the prize, won in Lisbon by Netta (Israel) performing the song Toy. ABBA (winner in 1974 for Sweden) and Céline Dion (winner in 1988 for Switzerland) are among the former contestants who launched successful worldwide careers after their wins at The Eurovision Song Contest.”

According to the BBC, Will Ferrell became a fan of the contest after being introduced to it by his Swedish wife. He was present at this year’s event, probably as research for this new project. He watched various stages of the competition and was given the blessing by the organizers to produce this film. While the contest is popular in Europe, it is not so very well-known in America so this project might just introduce this event to American viewers so that they can better appreciate the madness and spectacle. It has not yet been confirmed if Ferrell will be singing though he has been known to do so in his other films.

This film will be Ferrell’s second Netflix project, having worked on Ibiza (also starring Gillian Jacobs) which was released just last month. He is one of the many comedians who have started starring in Netflix projects. The list includes Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, and Rob Schneider

Watch this space for more updates about Eurovision, the Netflix movie and not the contest.