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The production company Village Roadshow is developing a limited series about John Daly, the beloved golfer known for ripping heaters on the golf course.
According to Deadline, Kevin James will be playing John Daly in the show. James previously played former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton in the Netflix movie.
At this time, it is unclear what structure the series will take, i.e., will it span multiple decades and cover Daly’s life, his peak in the 1990s, or zoom in on the week or so around a specific tournament?
The series will be executive produced by comedian Gary Valentine, a frequent collaborator of James’ who also wrote and acted in The King of Queens, as well as two-time Emmy-winning producer and manager Rory Rosegarten, who also represents Valentine, with whom he launched Valentine-Rosegarten Productions. [via Deadline]
The 59-year-old James is certainly an interesting choice for the role of Daly given his association with generally goofy comedies such as The King of Queens, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and Grown Ups.
And while elements of Daly’s life are likely hilarious — which James can probably still be if he tries — he’s certainly never come across as goofy. Being funny and being goofy are two entirely different things. Daly has been referred to as the “bad boy of golf,” after all.
There’s also the fat that Hollywood has already tried to slap a blonde wig on James when he played Payton in Home Team and it instantly turned into a meme due to how terrible it looked. Imagine how a wig with Daly’s bleached blonde hair will look.
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Daly has won five times on the PGA Tour, two of which were Majors: the PGA Championship in 1991 and The Open Championship in 1995. He also came tied for third at the Masters Tournament in 1993.
Back in 2022, there were rumors that Jonah Hill was tapped to play Daly in a movie, although there haven’t been any updates on that project since.