New Line Grabs ‘Crazy U’ for Will Ferrell

Andrew Ferguson's book 'Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course In Getting His Kid Into College' is pretty self-explanatory. A concerned father wants his son to get into the best school, so he tries everything to get some sort of advantage. Sounds like a high-concept comedy, so - as Deadline Hollywood is reporting - it's no surprise that New Line bought it as a possible star Vehicle for Will Ferrell.

Currently it's just being developed for Ferrell, though his Gary Sanchez productions (which is Ferrell, writer/director Adam McKay and Jessica Elbaum) is currently behind it. There's no script, so this could easily be something lost in development hell. But the premise of the main character, that of a trying-to-hard father (I'm guessing easily exasperated), is something Ferrell can do in his sleep.

Ferrell is one of the biggest comic actors working today, though the last couple years have seen him make some choices that haven't been big hits. 'Casa de mi Padre' just came out, and did good limited release business, while last year's 'Everything Must Go' is now looking like a trivia contest answer. He did provide a voice in 'Megamind' and 'The Other Guys' did well - which was a nice rebound from 'Land of the Lost,' a film that has yet to find the cult following it probably deserves.

This looks like a softball project, and Ferrell probably needs to make a reasonably sized commercial picture at this point to balance out some of his other choices. Such is the way of A-list stars.