Over the years, Will Ferrell has worked his comedy magic on career choices such as news anchor, race-car driver, professional basketball player, professional man-child, professional figure skater, and many more. And now the actor has turned his comedic eye toward the wild and wacky world of Shakespearean theater (or is that “theatre,” pronounced with the diction of Jenna from ‘30 Rock’?).

They’re the most classically trained and serious of all the thespians, which means they’re probably the most fertile ground for comedy. And the idea of Will Ferrell in tights and a ruffled collar is already humorous enough that you could probably build a sight-gag around that for 10 minutes, at least. Ferrell will play the lead in the film, which Variety describes as an original idea centered around the “intense, competitive world inside a Shakespearean theater company.” It sort of sounds like one of Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries, but it sadly is not.

The currently untitled project has been purchased by Sony for Ferrell to star, and was written by David Guion and Michael Handelman. Their previous credits include ‘The Watch,’ ‘Blades of Glory,’ ‘Men in Black 3,’ and ‘Dinner for Schmucks.’ They also scripted the upcoming ‘Night at the Museum 3: Secret of the Tomb.’ Guion and Handelman’s work has been a mixed bag, but based on the strength of ‘Blades of Glory’ alone—which starred Ferrell as a competitive figure skater—here’s hoping that this Shakespearean theater movie, um, shakes out.

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