EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of the release of his Paramount holiday comedy Dear Santa, starring Jack Black, Bobby Farrelly has found his next project in Sporkinfeesten, a “finding your roots” style family vacation comedy loosely inspired by true events, which has landed at Amazon MGM Studios.
Farrelly will work from a hot spec by Aaron and Will Eisenberg, which the studio recently acquired, with Cobra Kai‘s Counterbalance Entertainment producing. Further plot details are under wraps.
Aaron Eisenberg and Will Eisenberg
Mac Fisken
Prior to his work on Dear Santa, which has not yet announced a release date, Farrelly directed the Special Olympics dramedy Champions, a remake of the 2018 Spanish film for Focus Features, starring Woody Harrelson and Kaitlin Olson. Along with his brother Peter, he’s best known for iconic comedies like Dumb & Dumber and There’s Something About Mary, though he’s also worked on hit shows like Loudermilk and Trailer Park Boys, along with the award-winning documentary The Lost Son of Havana. He is represented by Independent Artist Group, Anonymous Content, and Lichter Grossman Nicols.
Previously, the Eisenbergs have put out the horror comedy Cursed Friends, which premiered on Comedy Central in 2022, also working on Blumhouse Television’s horror anthology series, Into the Dark. Most recently releasing their college admissions satire, Big Envelopes, as an Audible Original starring Broad City‘s Abbi Jacobson, the scribes are repped by Avalon Management and Myman Greenspan Fox.
Counterbalance Entertainment, led by writers/producers/directors Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, produces Netflix’s Cobra Kai, which reimagined The Karate Kid for a new generation. The Emmy-nominated series debuted the first batch of episodes for its sixth and final season in July and will return with another set on November 15.
Previously, the Counterbalance trio shepherded the Netflix action comedy series Obliterated, which debuted at #1 on the platform. The Las Vegas-set series marked a return to their Hard R comedy roots, as Heald previously penned the Hot Tub Time Machine franchise for MGM, and Hurwitz and Schlossberg were behind New Line’s popular Harold & Kumar film franchise, as well as hit comedies Blockers and American Reunion. Counterbalance is repped by CAA and attorneys Howard Abramson, Adam Kaller and Duncan Hedges.