Saturday Night Live’s MacGruber is making strides towards a jump to the big screen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jorma Taccone, the character’s creator and director of the majority of skits, is already on board to direct the feature film version. The trio who penned the SNL skits including Taconne along with Will Forte and John Solomon, have already delivered the completed film script.
Forte along with Kristen Wiig are set to reprise their roles from SNL. Ryan Phillippe is being recruited to play Piper, an Army officer forced to pair up with a reluctant MacGruber, with Val Kilmer in discussions to play Cunth, the evil warlord villain.
MacGruber’s plot including the two new characters reads as follows: The legendary, much decorated MacGruber is pulled out of retirement as a monk in Ecuador by a colonel, who needs him once more to fight on behalf of his country. This time the mission involves going up against the evil Cunth, who has a nuclear warhead; the mission is personal because Cunth killed MacGruber’s bride.
Now the race is on to see if MacGruber or New Line’s MacGyver film, currently in development, will reach theaters first. With MacGruber’s casting news it appears to have a leg up.
