'Wedding Crashers' director to take on 'Eurovision' with Will Ferrell for Netflix

Yep, it appears this Eurovision song contest comedy really is happening, with Netflix announcing a director for Eurovision in a mail-out to journalists this afternoon.

David Dobkin will try to achieve the impossible and make the competition funnier than it already is. Dobkin has form in the comedy world, with Wedding Crashers, Shanghai Knights, and The Change-Up the stand-outs on his CV.

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And he’ll have solid help in the form of band-mate Will Ferrell, who is to star and script (with former Saturday Night Live head writer Andrew Steele).

The film will be Will Ferrell‘s second Netflix feature-length production. He also worked on Ibiza, the comedy starring Gillian Jacobs, released on the streaming service last year.

The first Eurovision song contest was held in Switzerland in 1956, with seven West European nations participating.

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The show has become a global phenomenon with fans all over the world, but the UK has traditionally had the best television coverage, thanks mainly to a gently mocking tone established by Terry Wogan before his sad passing in 2016. We hope the film contains some sort of tribute to the legendary broadcaster.

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Former contestants ABBA (winner in 1974 for Sweden) and Céline Dion (winner in 1988 for Switzerland) launched successful worldwide careers after their wins at the contest, which just makes us wonder if Will Ferrell’s going to be the next big pop sensation – he’s sung in movies like Step Brothers, and for skits on SNL.

We just hope the film’s funny, we’d hate to have to give it nul points.