Screenwriter Steven Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness) and The Hangover director Todd Phillips are developing a biographical film about John Belushi’s life, Warner Bros. recently acquired the rights from Belushi’s estate. Conrad is writing and so far Phillips is only producing, with a director yet to be named.
This is going to be a hard movie to make and when it comes to biopics’, let’s be honest, it’s hit or miss. All the SNL cast mates that were such a big part of Belushi’s life would basically have to be cast as younger versions of themselves, unless they did some surreal telling of his life with the real people (those that are still around) playing themselves, there’s an idea.
Who will play Belushi? Some are already speculating Phillip’s friend Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover, Due Date) and Jack Black. In 2008, Black was quoted as saying he would turn down any offer to star in a Belushi biopic, “His life is not as funny as his work, and watching me do an imitation of him doing his ‘Saturday Night Live’ bits won’t be as funny as watching him do his ‘SNL’ bits.” I think we can all agree on that.
