Global Courant
EXCLUSIVE: After years of friendship that goes way beyond the two A-listers making it big in Hollywood, Bradley Cooper and Will Arnett are coming on to develop the Searchlight pic Is This Thing On?, with both set to co-star in the film with Cooper also directing. Arnett penned the script with Mark Chappell. The film is still in early development and while Arnett turned in a draft before the Writers strike began, Cooper will likely take a crack at the script with Arnett and Chappell and won’t be able to until after the Strike ends.
Full details are being kept under wraps with Cooper producing through his Lea Pictures banner along with Arnett and Kris Thykier. John Bishop will exec produce.
Cooper is a nine-time Oscar nominee whose prior nominations include American Sniper, American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook and A Star Is Born, which alone earned him three nominations. Cooper is currently in post-production on the Netflix drama Maestro, which is the follow-up directing gig to his Oscar-winning A Star Is Born. Cooper not only stars as composer Leonard Bernstein but also directed, produced and co-wrote the script. The film is already being predicted to be a major player this award season.
He was most recently seen reprising his role as Rocket Raccoon in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. He is repped by Range Media Partners.
Arnett burst onto the scene with his Emmy-nominated role as “Gob” on the iconic Fox series Arrested Development. He also voiced the title character of the original animated series BoJack Horseman. His film credits include The Lego Movie franchise, Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Most recently, Arnett can be seen in the SmartLess: On The Road Documentary that follows Will, Sean Hayes, and Jason Bateman on the North American tour of their hit Podcast, SmartLess. Arnett will produce Peacock’s upcoming series Twisted Metal, which premieres in July and will co-star in Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins for Searchlight Pictures, due out at the end of the year. Arnett and Chappell also worked on Flaked together.
Arnett is represented by CAA, Artists First, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
