The Daily Show is one of the best ways to unwind on a nightly basis. It is the combination of excellent writing and talented on air staff that makes the show so much fun to watch. But, it is also a huge credit to host Jon Stewart who has shepherded the program for over ten years. But, for the first time since the Craig Kilborn days, there will be a new host of The Daily Show, if even for a short period of time.
Deadline is reporting that Stewart will take an extended hiatus from the show this summer to film his directorial debut. During his eight to twelve week absence, The Daily Show will be hosted by John Oliver, who is hilarious in his own right and will do a fantastic job. So, what exactly is the movie Stewart will be making? A comedy, perhaps?
Stewart will direct ROSEWATER, which he has also written the script for, an adaptation of the book Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story Of Love, Captivity And Survival. The book is Maziar Bahari’s harrowing ordeal of leaving London in June 2009 to cover Iran’s presidential elections. With a pregnant fiance left behind, the BBC journalist expected to be away for a week. Instead, he spent the next 118 days in Iran’s most notorious prison being brutally interrogated by a man he knew only by one thing: he smelled of Rosewater. Bahari wrote the book with Aimee Molloy.
Obviously Stewart was known as a comedian prior to The Daily Show, but in his tenure on the Comedy Central series he has become well versed in politics. He may not be the person I expected to helm this project, but he is certainly an intriguing one. An interesting tidbit is that Bahari appeared on The Daily Show and that footage was used against him during his interrogations as a spy.
ROSEWATER will be produced by Stewart, Scott Rudin and Gigi Pritzker. There is no release date or stars attached to the project, but this sounds like a very interesting movie to keep tabs on. With the success of ARGO this year, I expect a lot more projects focused on the Middle East and the nature of spies.
