EXCLUSIVE: Will Ferrell has attached to star in and produce a feature film which Netflix will make based on its documentary The Legend of Cocaine Island. Peter Steinfeld will write the script, and Ferrell will produce with Gloria Sanchez Production’ Jessica Elbaum, and David Permut (Hacksaw Ridge) through his Permut Presentations. Theo Love, who helmed the docu will exec produce with Bryan Storkel.
In the documentary, a small-business owner and family man comes across the legend of a buried stash of cocaine worth $2 million hidden in the Caribbean. Having been wiped out during the Great Recession, he hatches a plan to retrieve the buried loot, using the talents of a band of colorful misfits. But without prior drug-running experience, trouble ensues.
Netflix acquired the documentary after it premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. The documentary premiered on Netflix March 29, 2019.
Ferrell, who parted company with longtime Gary Sanchez partner Adam McKay, just completed for Netflix Eurovision, the David Dobkin-directed comedy based on the actual global musical contest. He also stars with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the Nat Faxon/Jim Rash-directed Downhill for Fox Searchlight.
Ferrell is repped by UTA and Mosaic; Permut is repped by attorney John Tishbi. Steinfeld is with Mosaic and Licther Grossman.
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