Movieline caught up with Will Forte this week in Park City, where he was at Sundance to support Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim’s absurdist midnight offering Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie. In the film, Forte plays the uptight, moustachioed owner of a sword store in a mall that bumbling filmmakers Tim and Eric have taken over following the epic failure of their brush with Hollywood. Forte compared the more restricted sensibilities of his gig on Saturday Night Live to working within the madcap, surrealist stylings of the cult duo.
EW
Will Forte’s post-apocalyptic comedy ended its second season by dangling a few questions marks off a Malibu cliff: Who are the two hazmat-suited, gun-wielding individuals headed to our survivors’ shore with Pat (Mark Boone Junior)? Was that the last we will see of Mike (Jason Sudeikis)? When will Phil (Forte) decide to open Mike’s fart jar?
THR
The tragic story of Doug Kenney, one of the co-founders of National Lampoon, is getting the screen treatment as an original Netflix movie.
Will Forte is attached to portray the man in the feature project, titled A Futile and Stupid Gesture, with David Wain, the co-creator of Wet Hot American Summer, on board to direct the project that is in negotiations to land at Netflix.
This will be thoroughly interesting to watch. For those unfamiliar with the situation, Doug Kenney is largely responsible for some of the more iconic comedies we saw throughout the 80s, and had a hand in bringing together talents like Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Jim Belushi, and Chevy Chase. Many of these guys had their start with National Lampoon Radio even before joining on Second City. After many of those actors had spent some time working with Second City, they along with Doug and his National Lampoon crew, went on to create Animal House and Caddyshack. Following Doug's death there were many others using the National Lampoon name, as well as countless others that were closely inspired by these films.
Anyone who's even remotely interested in this upcoming film would likely appreciate the documentary "Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon". With interviews from basically all the living members that were associated with the group, they discuss the whole story behind everything that happened. For me, it was really captivating to see, and provided a lot of inspiration to continue pushing the boundaries of comedy in my own projects.
I'd also very much like to note that Will Forte is hilarious, and I think he'll be great in this role. Perhaps my favorite role he's been in is Rad Cunningham in Moonbeam City, though I've also enjoyed Last Man on Earth.
The Wrap
Will Forte‘s character is not, actually, the last man on earth in the Fox sitcom “Last Man on Earth” – he started the show’s first season as the seeming sole survivor of a humanity-killing virus, but over the course of 13 episodes he met enough fellow survivors to complicate his life enormously.
Oddly enough, Will Forte is the only part that felt flat.