The rise and rise of new comic superstar, Zach Galifianakis, continues, after The Hangover’s breakout performer signed on to star alongside Steve Carell and Paul Rudd in Jay Roach’s Dinner For Schmucks.
Based on Francis Veber’s 1998 French farce, Le diner de cons, Dinner For Schmucks stars Carell as a hapless, pathetic guy who’s invited to Rudd’s weekly dinner party, with chaotic results. Galifianakis will star as the assistant manager of a mattress store who just happens to be dating Carell’s ex-wife.
British actress Lucy Punch (who you may remember getting axed to death in Hot Fuzz) is also in the cast. Filming will start this autumn, with a 2010 release on the cards.
Galifianakis has also lined up Due Date, another Todd Phillips comedy about a guy racing home to make the birth of his first child (with hilarious etc. etc.), and The Hangover 2. Not bad for a guy with a beard that bushy – he’s got the movie career Bill Oddie should have had.