...but in a different role

Steve Coogan’s one-off comedy Cruise Of The Gods is to be remade as a movie – again starring the Alan Partridge creator.

But while in the 2002 BBC original, Coogan played a big-shot star – in the remake he will take the role of a struggling actor, originally played by Rob Brydon.

The 90-minute show was set on a fan cruise held in honour of a fictitious Eighties sci-fi TV series. Of its two stars, one went on to the heights of fame while the other has barely worked since.

New York screenwriters Michael Handelman and David Guion, who recently penned the movie Dinner For Schmucks, say they will stick to that premise in their new version, to be called The Great Beyond.

‘We're huge admirers,’ Handelman said of Coogan. ‘We've seen all of his stuff. He's a brilliant actor. Cruise Of The Gods was never shown here [in the US], so we are remaking it.’

Guion revealed that Coogan would be playing the obscure actor, adding: ‘We're still talking about that but I think the idea would be to find an American star to pair him with.’

The original, made by Coogan’s production company Baby Cow, also starred David Walliams and James Corden; while Russell Brand, who was due to star, was thrown off set for ‘drug-related incidents’.

Published: 14 Jul 2010