According to THR, Will Ferrell has signed on to star in an adaptation of Jonas Jonasson’s bestselling novel The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, as well as producing with Adam McKay and Jessica Elbaum through his Gary Sanchez Productions banner for CBS Films.
The 100-Year-Old Man revolves around “a man who, on the night of his 100th birthday, escapes from his nursing home and hits the road, with the ensuing inadvertent adventure involving criminals, a bag of cash and an elephant. But his time on the run reveals that the former explosives expert was involved in some of the defining moments of the 20th century and that he crossed paths with figures such as Joseph Stalin, Sir Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle. Before long, past and present are on a collision course.”
“My character, Allan, knows the art of being funny just by being,” Jonasson tells THR. “That is something Will Ferrell masters to perfection. Great humor with small measurements. I am happy that Allan is now in his hands.”
Jonasson’s book has been described as a “more darkly comedic” version of Forrest Gump, and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide, as well as spawning an Oscar-nominated Swedish movie adaptation which became one of the highest-grossing films of all-time on home soil.