Yes, Will Ferrell is doing a miniseries but don’t worry, he’s not attempting to be a Serious Actor again (though, to be fair, he’s pretty good at the more dramatic stuff.) Nope, he’s going into the world of overwrought soap operas again (territory he covered with the more Mexican flavored “Case De Mi Padre.”) Kristin Wiig and Tobey Maguire are already on board and IFC has announced the rest of the cast. It’s promising. Very, very promising.
Jessica Alba, Michael Sheen, Val Kilmer, Tim Robbins and Haley Joel Osment (yep, for real) are among those coming on board “The Spoils Of Babylon.” Set to be directed by Matt Piedmont (who directed ‘Casa’ and co-wrote this script with Andrew Steele,) the comedy series will follow the oil rich Morehouse family and the orphan Devon Morehouse (Maguire.) Devon is taken in while he is young, but ends up going on to run Morehouse Enterprises, the seventh largest company in the world, alongside his step-sister Cynthia (Wiig). Fighting off their feelings for each other, they will also have to deal with the Shah of Iran, who will be played Ferrell (rad).
So who is everyone else playing? The kid who sees dead people will be Cynthia’s evil son; Alba will be Maguire’s love interest; Sheen will be Wiig’s husband; Robbins will be the patriarch of the Morehouse clan while Kilmer will be one of two US general dealing with the Shah.
Spanning six-parts, no word yet on when this will premiere, but we can’t wait. [Deadline]