Bill Burr to direct Bobby Cannavale and Bokeem Woodbine as Old Dads

Comedian Bill Burr is set to make his directorial feature debut in the near future, with Deadline reporting that the Breaking Bad and Mandalorian highlight is set to write, direct, and star in a new feature, Old Dads, with Miramax.

Although Burr is best known as a performer—either as a long-time stand-up comic, or his occasional forays into acting—he stepped behind the camera more recently, serving as a creator, writer, and executive producer on his five-season Netflix animated sitcom F Is For Family.

Old Dads will see him move into the director’s chair for the first time, co-starring with Bobby Cannavale and Bokeem Woodbine in a comedy about “a middle-aged father and his two best friends who, after selling their company to a millennial, find themselves out of step and behind the times as they hilariously struggle to navigate a changing world of culture, career and fatherhood.”

Which, yes, sounds extremely “Tim Allen wants another sitcom,” at least as far as the logline is concerned. But it’s worth noting that Burr has long made a strength out of applying a veteran comic’s eye to the foibles of middle-aged white guys, while Cannavale and Woodbine have both proven themselves to be the best and most exciting parts of many an ensemble cast.

In a statement about the film, the comedian noted that, “I’m very excited to start shooting Old Dads. This comedy is based on my own and my co-writer, Ben Tishler’s, lives. Miramax has been awesome to work with and I think people are really going to like this movie.” Miramax CEO Bill Block responded in kind, calling Burr “one of the top comedic voices of his generation” and adding that “He has written a script that’s not just unwaveringly funny, but also full of heart and unfiltered cultural commentary,” and, whoops, oh no, there went our Tim Allen sensors again. Fingers crossed for a false alarm.