Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer to end comedy partnership with new movie The Glove

Comedy duo Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer will end their 30-year comedy partnership with their first big screen movie The Glove, it has been announced.

The legendary comedy duo, who have also written the script, will make their movie debut in their long-gestating 'mad-cap road movie' which will shoot on location in the UK in spring 2023, and co-star Brian Cox.

The press release from distributor Altitude describes the film as the 'legendary comedy duo's feature film final hurrah'.

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Will Clarke, Chairman and Co-CEO of Altitude said, “We’re excited to be working with such a fantastic and hilarious filmmaking team and cannot wait to bring Vic and Bob’s final big adventure to the silver screen.”

Vic Reeves (real name Jim Moir) and Bob Mortimer made their TV debut as a duo in 1990 and have worked together on numerous shows including Vic Reeves Big Night Out, The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, Shooting Stars, Catterick, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), and House of Fools. They've also produced music, books, and stage shows together including 25 Years of Reeves & Mortimer, a production which they toured in 2015-2016.

Moir also plans to retire his Vic Reeves alter ego completely following the release of the film. Talking to BBC Radio Cornwall earlier this year he said: "Vic Reeves was a character I invented when I was at art school actually, I put him on stage. And I haven't done him for a while."

"Bob and me wrote a film, about 12 years ago, which we keep threatening to do and we've been asked to do, so we might do that next year. And that will probably be the final appearance of Vic Reeves."

First announced in 2018, The Glove will see the pair on a road trip attempting to track down 'an elusive piece of celebrity memorabilia'. This was Michael Jackson's trademark sequinned glove in earlier versions of the story, but the King of Pop is not referenced in the latest press release.

“[The Glove is] about Michael Jackson,’ Mortimer shared in 2018. “He left a glove, one of his training gloves, that he used when he wasn’t on stage, and it’s a very valuable item now. And there’s a few people trying to get ownership of it. It’s just a road movie thing.”

The project has been in development for around 15 years at this stage with Ben Wheatley (Kill List) and Mat Whitecross (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll) attached to direct at different times, but will now be directed by BAFTA winning filmmaker Tim Kirkby (Action Point, Last Looks, Fleabag, Veep).

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Kirkby said, “It is an absolute thrill and a lifelong dream to be bringing the hugely influential comedy TV legends Vic and Bob’s surreal and exceptional humour to the big screen. The Glove is a bizarre road trip, one from the heart for the legions of loyal fans. Expect sublime cinematic doses of silliness and one very special glove.”

Further casting announcements are expected for The Glove soon.

Watch: Michael Jackson estate seeks to recover stolen property