Mighty Boosh film planned?
Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt are reportedly putting a script together for a film version of their cult comedy series The Mighty Boosh... however this has since been denied.
It is known that the duo have planned to turn their comedy into a movie for number of years. Speaking on Xfm in 2008, they said "A film is the first thing we ever wanted to do, so we've always come up with ideas and stuck them in a drawer", adding "We wanna make something pretty epic like The Wizard Of Oz; something huge and psychedelic with lots of music and animation in it. A big epic fantasy world."
The prospect of a big screen version of the comedy is now reportedly closer, as Julian Barratt - talking to The Daily Mail - was quoted as saying that he and Fielding were actively working on potential ideas. The newspaper printed that he said: "We're going on tour early in the New Year and we'll be working on material that hopefully could make a movie. We want to make something great for the fans."
However, it should be noted that since The Daily Mail ran the piece, well-connected Boosh fan site The Velvet Onion has quashed the rumours
The website posted: "We spoke directly to Boosh management, who very kindly confirmed this was a no-go story", adding "As much as we ourselves look forward to whatever the Boosh have got planned in da foocha, we nevertheless must confirm that, at present, any talk of future plans is just that: talk.".
Should a film eventually be made, it may have musical links, as Fielding - speaking in the same 2008 Xfm interview - revealed his ideal guests would be Gary Numan and Mick Jagger, explaining: "They'd have to be icons. You can't just get people who are just trendy at the moment, it looks a bit back slappy."
The Mighty Boosh, initially developed by Barrett and Fielding as live stage shows and radio series, transferred to television on BBC Three from 2004. Observing the surreal adventures of Howard Moon and Vince Noir, the comedy ran for 20 episodes across three series. The last episode was broadcast in December 2007.
Fielding and Barratt last toured live as the characters in 2008 and 2009 with their Future Sailors Tour, however following an appearance at Festival Supreme in California in October last year, they have since been performing a number of low key new material gigs.
Noel Fielding is currently working on a second series of his critically derided sketch show Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy. It will be screened on E4 later in 2014.
Following the success of The Inbetweeners Movie in 2011, a number of new British comedy films based around existing TV characters have sprung up. 2013's cinema offerings included The Harry Hill Movie and Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.
This story was edited on the 6th January 2014 to clarify that the quote the Daily Mail ran may not correctly represent the situation.