Is A 'Between Two Ferns' Movie From Zach Galifianakis A Good Idea?

There isn’t anyone funnier than Zach Galifianakis, no matter if you’re one of his stoner fans, or completely sober. Even if you have nothing to do with cannabis or don’t support weed legalization like he does, his deadpan comedic delivery is a classic brand now.

One place you can find his comedic essence is on his Between Two Ferns series that continues to air on Funny or Die. It’s here where we saw Galifianakis famously interview President Obama four years ago.

Will Zach bring us a Between Two Ferns movie next? Let’s look at whether such a thing could work on the big screen and what his current worth is.

Zach Galifianakis | Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Comedy Central as a pool of talent

It seems like a lot of comedians got their big breaks on Comedy Central, sometimes in obscure projects. From the beginning, you could see that Zach Galifianakis was something out of the ordinary as a comedian.

After being a brief writer on SNL and landing small acting gigs, he hit the ground running in a 2001 Comedy Central Presents special doing his famous bit of playing the piano while telling jokes. No other comedian was doing this kind of stage act, and it quickly turned heads.

This was alternative comedy at its best, and it led to Galifianakis landing his own obscure late-night show on VH1 called Late World with Zach.

These appearances led to more guest shots on Comedy Central shows and other networks. But, it took some time for him to move into the mainstream considering he was pushing comedic boundaries.

A traveling comedian

As Galifianakis’s stature grew as a comedian, he teamed up with a few other rising comics to headline The Comedians of Comedy. Intended as a parody of group comedy tours like The Original Kings of Comedy, this tour got his name better known on the road.

While doing this, he was already landing dozens of small roles in movies and doing guest shots on TV. While respected by fellow comedians, he didn’t find his mainstream stride until acting in one unlikely movie franchise.

He still advanced himself by landing his own 2008 Netflix comedy special called Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion. Arguably, if it hadn’t been for this, he maybe wouldn’t have landed his new iconic movie role.

The Hangover changes everything

When The Hangover released in 2009, Galifianakis had already been around almost a decade as a left-field comedian. His role as Alan Garner in the film had him playing a character with ADHD and a childish personality. Even though he’s far from the Alan character in real life, Galifianakis ran with this and ended up creating a popular characterization that demanded two sequels.

The success of these films finally placed him into the millionaire club as a film star. By the time the second sequel came out, he (and the other cast members) were asking for $15 million each.

They ultimately received it, pushing them to a new comedy earnings bracket.

Outside of this massive success, Zach kept his modest Between Two Ferns show going on Will Ferrell’s Funny or Die site.

Is a Between Two Ferns movie on the horizon?

It probably sounds crazy to create a movie around the deliberately low-budget Between Two Ferns talk show where a seemingly baked Galifianakis interviews famous people.

No doubt the news that a movie adaptation will occur on Netflix instead of a theater release is part of the reason for why producers are reportedly filming now. We’ve certainly seen our fill of movies squeezed out of razor-thin sketch premises from SNL and other shows.

With Galifianakis, though, we should never underestimate what he’s capable of doing with his comedic concepts. Now worth a total of $20 million, perhaps this movie version of Between Two Ferns will become a plaything for him. Being allowed to do what he wants could lead to vintage experimental comedy he’s steadfastly maintained since his Comedy Central days.

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