Aziz Ansari has already made a career out of stand up comedy, had a memorable role on a beloved sitcom, and created and starred in his own show. Now he’s trying his hand at directing. Ansari has signed to make his directorial debut with an as-yet-unnamed comedy-drama in the works at Searchlight Pictures.
Ansari will also star in the film alongside Bill Murray. Based on Atul Gawande‘s non-fiction book Being Mortal: Medicine And What Matters In The End, the book follows the author on his journey of helping patients through the healing powers of medicine.
Gawande takes readers through his thoughts based around hospice and end-of-life help for those in need as well as his belief that medicine should be used to uphold a patient’s health and ease those who are terminally ill into their passing.
While it’s slightly unusual to see non-fiction adapted into a comedy-drama, it’s easy to see how Gawande’s book could fit into the Hollywood comedy-drama formula. Perhaps this could turn into something like a big screen Scrubs.
Searchlight co-presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield called Ansari “an incredible talent” in a statement, adding that they were impressed by his writing ability to weave the story with both “insightful humor and pathos.”
Ansari previously played Tom Haverford on Parks And Recreation before going on to create and star in Netflix series Master Of None, which earned critical acclaim. He released comedy special Nightclub Comedian on the streaming platform earlier this year.
He’s already shown the talent to succeed in multiple facets, so there’s a pretty good chance his directorial debut will be a success too. Getting Murray on board to co-star will certainly help. He’s currently filming roles in the next Ant-Man film, Wes Anderson‘s Asteroid City, and Peter Farrelly comedy The Greatest Beer Run Ever.
More details about this project – including a title – will likely arrive soon.
#Peace.Love.AzizAnsari
