Grab your Carnac The Magnificent hat and start doing some casting prognostication- a hot gig just popped up.

One has to wonder if the competition for the job to portray late night master Johnny Carson will get as ugly as the struggle to fill his Tonight Show chair got once the man announced his retirement.

Coming from writer John McLaughlin (Black Swan, Hitchcock), the screenwriter is joining his Hitchcock producer for this project based on Bill Zehme’s phantom biography, Carson The Magnificent: An Intimate Portrait. Zehme’s novel has been set for release for years and years, but the novel has remained vapor-lit until this deal, which at least proves the thing has been read by someone, somewhere. Supposedly the most detailed look at the famously private comedian, you can count on the film based on it to be much more of a character piece than a look at the salient details of the “late night wars.”

So now the obvious fun comes from tossing out ideas for those that could take on the role of the incomparable host (who passed away in 2005). A lot of stand-ups will certainly be brushing off their actings resumes and getting their panties in a wad as Hollywood touches on a sacred cow. Carson was a tough act to follow, and remains a figure not easily portrayed without sounding like a cheap imitation. Any suggestions on who has the chops?

 

Source | Deadline