If you’ve seen Fanboys, you know that director Kyle Newman has a deep and abiding love for Star Wars. And it looks like his follow up to his 2008 feature debut will explore that love a little bit more. Newman is developing Chewie, a comedic biopic that centers on fledgling actor Peter Mayhew and his time in a a full-body suit of hair on the set of a little film called Star Wars. Newman and Inferno Entertainment have secured the rights to Mayhew’s life story, the first step necessary in getting the project on the screen.
Mayhew himself announced Newman’s involvement via his twitter feed.
The script landed on last year’s Black List at the number three position, even though scripters Evan Susser and Van Robichaux had written the screenplay only as a spec script writing sample. But the script’s light-hearted story of the seven-foot three-inch hospital orderly whose dreams of becoming an actor are met with a lack of support from his family and employer soon made it a must-read around Hollywood.
I have to admit that to some surprise that the film is actually in active development. Don’t get me wrong. I loved the script and thought it was a great piece of writing. I just thought that since it involves a number of actual people – George Lucas and a majority of the Star Wars cast are all part of the story – I figured that getting permission from all involved to may prove to be a bit difficult. Still, if any director was a natural for the material, it would be Newman.