Because recent events have proven that there’s nothing quite as lighthearted or amusing as the death of someone who’s been a lasting part of the cultural consciousness for decades, Ken Jeong has signed on to star in an upcoming comedy about a down-on-his-luck nightclub owner who tries to raise money to cover his debts by murdering his pick in a celebrity death pool: David Hasselhoff.
The film, currently known only as Untitled Celebrity Death Pool and adapted from a spec script by writer Peter Hoare, is a joint production of Hyde Park Entertainment and WWE Studios. Darren Grant is set to direct, and Hasselhoff will co-star as himself as well as receive a producing credit. Oh, and Hulk Hogan is in it also, because wrestling, we guess.
The often-best-in-small-doses Jeong in a starring role. Hulk Hogan acting. An unproven screenwriter with a clever but hard-to-market idea. The director of Diary Of A Mad Black Woman. The producer behind Battlefield Earth and Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li. It’s like someone made a bet that they could make a movie in 2014 in which David Hasselhoff was the most interesting and marketable component. That, or this is a Producers-esque attempt to sequester all of the most overexposed elements of Hollywood in a project that can easily be scuttled as soon as a high-profile celebrity death renders the whole premise too much of a pain in the ass to release.