EXCLUSIVE: A24 has Will Forte in talks to star in the David Mikalson-directed film Goblin. Forte joins Skyler Gisondo and Kenneth Branagh, the latter of whom will provide the voice of the title character in the outrageous comedy.

Production is set for the fall as Mikalson closes in on a dream come true. As Deadline revealed last year, the aspiring writer-director from Washington state dropped out of film school and began making short films. He hatched the idea of making an outrageous buddy comedy about a goblin, using a practical puppet and operating outside the Hollywood system. His script got him representation at WME, Kaplan/Perrone and attorney Chris Abramson, and they sent the script around town.

That led to around 100 general meetings for Mikalson. He was broke after putting all his money into creating the puppet title character – an anatomically correct green critter – but A24 stepped up while others chose to wait until he finished a micro-budget version of his raunchy comedy. The distributor has a nice track record of breaking new directors, and A24 gave him the money that allows Mikalson to see through his vision.  

SNL alum Forte was most recently seen in The Four Seasons as well as the films Nebraska and MacGruber. He’s repped by UTA, Rise and Hansen Jacobson.

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