- Pete Davidson has landed a new film role, The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Tuesday.
- The news comes as the comedian's first lead-role project, "Big Time Adolescence," is being shown at Sundance Film Festival.
- The new film will be directed by Judd Apatow ("Trainwreck," 2015) and will be partly based on Davidson's life.
- The project will be overseen by Universal Pictures with a view to get cameras rolling in May or June this year.
Pete Davidson will appear in a semi-autobiographical film about his life, The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Tuesday.
The comedian is teaming up with director Judd Apatow whose last feature was "Trainwreck" with Amy Schumer back in 2015.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that — as in "Trainwreck"— Apatow will give a rising comedian a platform to play a version of themselves on a stage built with material from their own life.
The project will be overseen by Universal Pictures and written by Apatow, Davidson, and Dave Sirus with a view to get cameras rolling in May or June this year.
Davidson grew up in Staten Island, New York, and lost his father, who was a firefighter, in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The 25-year-old has often spoken out about the passing of his father, and incorporates the experience into his humor.
Last year he broke off a whirlwind engagement with pop star Ariana Grande, which he has also made light of during comedy sets.
"Things that I feel really sad about, I talk about," he told Interview magazine in 2015. "That way, if it's funny, it doesn't hurt anymore."
Davidson worried fans in December last year after posting a disturbing note on Instagram. Concerned friends reported that Davidson was accounted for on the set of "Saturday Night Live" after the post.
He joined the cast of SNL back in 2014 aged just 20.
The news of the film comes as Davidson's other new coming-of-age movie "Big Time Adolescence" is being unveiled at Sundance Film Festival this week — and critics are already lauding the comedian's acting chops.
"This year's quintessential Sundance coming-of-age comedy with all the usual tropes. Big time laughs, big time truths, big time drama, big time lessons learned. Pete Davidson makes it all worth it otherwise it's all the same we've seen before," wrote FirstShowing.net critic Alex Billington.
Big Time Adolescence - This year's quintessential Sundance coming-of-age comedy with all the usual tropes. Big time laughs, big time truths, big time drama, big time lessons learned. Pete Davidson makes it all worth it otherwise it's all the same we've seen before. #Sundance2019
— Alex Billington @ Sundance (@firstshowing) January 29, 2019
Adam B. Vary, Senior Film Reporter at BuzzFeed News, said: "BIG TIME ADOLESCENCE: A winning little coming of age movie about a nice 16-year-old kid (Griffin Gluck) and his 23-year-old affable loser of a best friend (Pete Davidson) that succeeds largely on the charm of its two leads."
BIG TIME ADOLESCENCE: A winning little coming of age movie about a nice 16-year-old kid (Griffin Gluck) and his 23-year-old affable loser of a best friend (Pete Davidson) that succeeds largely on the charm of its two leads. #Sundance2019
— Adam B. Vary @ Sundance (@adambvary) January 29, 2019
Vanity Fair also raved about Davidson's performance.
If "Big Time Adolescence" is as well received by the general public as it has been by the critics, then we may be seeing a lot more of Davidson on the big screen in future.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: How Apple went from a $1 trillion company to losing over 20% of its share price