Once’s John Carney may direct Ferrell and Gad in Russ & Roger Go Beyond

It's been four months since Michael Winterbottom left the film, but STX Entertainment may have finally found a new director for their Roger Ebert/Russ Meyer biopic RUSS & ROGER GO BEYOND. Deadline has learned that John Carney (ONCE, BEGIN AGAIN) is in early talks to helm the planned movie.

Apparently several other filmmakers have also been circling the flick (which has been described as "a debaucherous comedy centering on two outsiders who defied the Hollywood establishment and made one of the first X-rated films, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, ever released by a major movie studio, having the party of a lifetime in the process"), including Ben Stiller.

Winterbottom did a rewrite on the original script by Christopher Cluess (The Simpsons, MADtv) with Veep's Neil and Rob Gibbons, however it's not clear if either version is still in the mix, or if Carney will be starting from scratch if he does sign on to direct. According to the site, Will Ferrell and Josh Gad are still attached to star as (respectively) Meyer and Ebert.

Although there's no official word on when filming might start, it was previously reported that RUSS & ROGER GO BEYOND was expected to head into production sometime in early 2016.