Jimmy Carr writes his first film, the Downton Abbey spoof Fackham Hall
- Jimmy Carr has written his debut screenplay, Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey period spoof in the style of Airplane! and the Naked Gun films
- Co-written with his younger brother Patrick and The Dawson Brothers, it shoots in the UK next year and stars Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Thomasin McKenzie, Emma Laird and Katherine Waterston
- Carr said: "The British Film Industry does two things very well. Period drama and comedy. Now we didn't have time to write two movies, so we've had to mash the genres together"
Jimmy Carr has written his first film, a Downton Abbey spoof.
The stand-up has penned period comedy Fackham Hall with his younger brother Patrick, whose credits include Brotherhood and The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year and prolific writing trio The Dawson Brothers (Walliams & Friend, After Ever After).
Described as being "in the tradition of classic joke-a-minute spoof comedies like The Naked Gun series and Airplane!", US entertainment website Deadline reports that Hero Fiennes Tiffin (The Loneliest Boy In The World), Thomasin McKenzie (Unzipped, Jo Jo Rabbit), Emma Laird (Dreamland) and Katherine Waterston (Robot & Frank) have so far been lined up to star.
"The British Film Industry does two things very well. Period drama and comedy" Jimmy Carr told Deadline. "Now we didn't have time to write two movies, so we've had to mash the genres together... I'm just slightly worried that if you say Fackham Hall in a posh English accent it might be misconstrued, hopefully that won't be a problem."
Fiennes Tiffin will play a new porter who embarks on an unlikely relationship with the youngest daughter (McKenzie) of a prominent UK family. At the same time, rivalries are spilling over in the Davenport family, led by Lord and Lady Davenport (Waterston) as they also weather the epic failure of the wedding of their eldest daughter (Laird) to her caddish cousin.
Catastrophe helmer Jim O'Hanlon is attached to direct and called it a "brilliant script".
"Fackham Hall is that rarest of rare hen's teeth" he said. "A genuinely funny, fiendishly clever period comedy which even on the page makes you snort your tea out of several orifices at once, whilst still making you care hugely for the young couple at the centre of all the madness."
Additional casting on the film is underway and principal photography will begin in the UK early next year.
Fackham Hall is being produced by Kris Thykier (I Give It A Year, KickAss) and Danny Perkins (Greatest Days), under their joint venture comedy label Mews Films.
Jimmy and Patrick Carr are executive producing alongside Andrew Karpen and Kent Sanderson for Bleecker Street, who have acquired US rights for the film, alongside Anonymous Content's Nick Shumaker and David Levine.