Will Ferrell is circling the biopic Russ & Roger Go Beyond, eyeing the role of filmmaker Russ Meyer in this story of how the B-movie cult classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls was made.

We first reported on the project in October, when Mark Amin's Sobini Films partnered with David Permut's Permut Presentations and Richard Waltzer's Chautauqua Entertainment to acquire the screenplay written by Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons writer Chris Cluess.

The plot is based on the true story of how Russ Meyer, best known for soft-core erotic films such as Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, was offered to direct Beyond the Valley of the Dolls by 20th Century Fox. The filmmaker agreed, but only under the condition that Roger Ebert, then the third-string film critic at the Chicago Sun Times, write the script. Roger Ebert wrote one of the few positive reviews of Russ Meyer's work. The plot follows these filmmakers and their struggles with the studio system and the ratings board. The movie was one of the few major studio releases that garnered an X rating, but the filmmakers were eventually vindicated when it became a profitable hit. Both Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert remained friends until Russ Meyer passed away in 2004. Roger Ebert passed away in April 2013.

While the project does not have a director attached yet, Edgar Wright has expressed interest, and actors such as Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen are reportedly interested in playing Roger Ebert.

Will Ferrell recently starred in The Lego Movie, and he will next be seen in Get Hard.