Will Ferrell eyeing role as porn producer in Russ and Roger Go Beyond

Ferrell is in talks to star in a new movie about Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert

Will Ferrell is eyeing the role of porn producer Russ Meyer (Getty Images)

Will Ferrell is in talks to play softcore porn producer Russ Meyer in a movie based on his collaboration with legendary film critic Roger Ebert, reports suggest.

Meyer teamed up with Ebert to make X-rated 1970 satire Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and now, their story looks set to be told through indie project Russ and Roger Go Beyond.

The plot will follow the pair’s working relationship and unlikely friendship in the early Sixties, when the late Ebert was beginning his career at the Chicago Sun-Times and 20th Century Fox was struggling after a run of box office flops.

The film is in its early stages and a director has yet to be found, although industry insider Deadline suggests that Edgar Wright is “intrigued”.

Emmy-winning screenwriter Christopher Cluess has penned the script, while David Permut and Richard Waltzer are producing with Mark Amin’s Sobini Films.

Ferrell has been seen primarily in blockbuster comedies in past years, and recently finished shooting Ethan Cohen’s Get Hard, set for release in March 2015.

Meyer’s story has been eyed by filmmakers before, with David O Russell keen to create a biopic from a script written by Lovelace’s Merritt Johnson.

Little has been heard of this project, however, as the director’s other films seem to have pushed it to the backburner.

Ebert biopic Life Itself, meanwhile, is due for release on 14 November.