Ricky Gervais’ “Special Correspondents” will premiere on Netflix on April 29, the streaming service announced on Wednesday. The film — a remake of the French comedy of the same name — centers on a radio journalist whose response to a career crisis is to fake front-line war reports from the comforts of a restaurant in Queens.
The comic look at journalistic malfeasance is the latest move in Netflix’s push to enter the film world by leveraging its millions of subscribers into backing original productions. The service has already released the acclaimed child soldiers drama “Beasts of No Nation” and the (let’s be generous) less critically well-received “The Ridiculous 6,” a comic western from Adam Sandler. Future projects include “War Machine” with Brad Pitt, “Jadotville” with Jamie Dornan and “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday,” which brings Paul Reubens back into the Playhouse fold.
In addition to Gervais, best known for skewering Hollywood A-listers as the host of the Golden Globes and for creating “The Office,” the film stars Eric Bana (“Lone Survivor”), Vera Farmiga (“Up in the Air”), Kelly Macdonald (“Boardwalk Empire”), Kevin Pollak (“The Usual Suspects”) and America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”).
The film is a co-production between Bron Studios and Unanimous Entertainment. The producers are Gervais, Chris Coen, Aaron L. Gilbert, Manuel Munz and Larry Sanitsky. Jason Cloth and Ron McLeod are executive producers.
Gervais wrote and directed the “Special Correspondents.”
