It looked like the Will Ferrell produced adaptation of the young adult novel, King Dork, might have disappeared into oblivion when the studio that was developing it, Paramount Vantage, was dissolved last years. However it now appears that there’s still life in the project with production moving to Sony and Four Christmases director, Seth Gordon, in talks to direct.
The King Dork book, written by Frank Portman, centres on a teenage misfit called Tom Henderson, who’s tormented by the various cliques at his high school and finds solace in music. He also tries to discover what really happened to his father, who died under hazy circumstances. The book was praised on its publication for its frank but well-handled discussion of sex, drugs and other tricky topics.
It’s not known whether Ferrell will appear in the film at all or whether he’ll simply produce through his and Adam McKay’s production company, Gary Sanchez Prods.
While the pretty rubbish Four Christmases might make you wonder whether Gordon is a good choice for the project, he also directed the fantastic geek documentary, The King Of Kong. However whether he’ll be able to fit King Dork on his busy dance card is another matter, as he’s currently signed up for the heist thriller Suicide Squad and the comedy Mr. Romance, and he’s also developing a feature version of King Of Kong.