With John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy

Steve Coogan is to play Stan Laurel in a new biopic of Laurel and Hardy.

He will appear opposed  John C. Reilly  as  Oliver Hardy, Hollywood trade website Deadline reports.

The script has been written by Jeff Pope, who collaborated with Coogan on Philomena, and the film will be directed  by Jon S. Baird, whose credits include Filth and Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong’s police-based comedy-drama Babylon.

The film, Stan & Ollie, will be based around the tour the comedy legends performed in Britain’s music halls in 1953, long after their glory days and when Hardy was suffering declining health. Although the stage show starts as a flop, with poor audiences, it gradually becomes a hit as audiences appreciate their performances.

Pope told Deadline: ‘I am aware of the huge responsibility of bringing their characters to life, but I have not treated the boys with kid gloves or looked at them through rose coloured specs. They are living and breathing characters, with flaws and shortcomings. 

‘The research into this story threw up so many details and facts that I had no idea about. But everything I have done has come from a place of love and more than anything else I hope this shines through.’

Producer Faye Ward called Coogan and  Reilly ‘a dream partnership’ for the BBC Films project.

Published: 18 Jan 2016