The Comedian, a passion project of Robert De Niro’s, has become something of a revolving door for directors through the years. Now it appears Taylor Hackford will be the man to bring it to the screen.
De Niro (and writer/producer Art Linson) have been working on this since at least 2010, developing the story of a Don Rickles-style insult comic who is trying to get his career back on track despite his toxic act and personality. Back around 2011, the story reportedly found him hitting the comeback trail by going back to the TV milieu that first boosted him to fame, but his rage issues prove too great.
When it was originally announced, Sean Penn was calling the shots, but the project became mired in limbo until it finally secured some financing, with Mike Newell announced back in May this year. He’s no longer attached thanks to scheduling issues, which means Hackford will, assuming nothing else happens, be the man in the director’s chair for the shoot in January this year. De Niro is particularly interested in visiting territory similar to that of Martin Scorsese’s The King Of Comedy, albeit through a very different story and lens. He and Linson had Comedy Central and Friars Club roast veteran Jeffrey Ross write the stand-up material for the main character, so this should be something to see.