Jason Segel has been tapped to play Infinite Jest author David Foster Wallace in The Spectacular Now director James Ponsoldt‘s The End of the Tour.
The Wrap broke the news of Segel’s casting of the late author. Jesse Eisenberg has already been cast as Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky, who wrote the book the film is based on. Playwright Donald Margulies adapted Lipsky’s book, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip With David Foster Wallace.
The Wrap writes, “[The story] finds Lipsky accompanying Wallace across the country on a book tour promoting ‘Infinite Jest,’ just as Wallace starts to become famous. Along the way, jealousy and competition bubbles up between the two writers as they discuss women, depression and the pros and cons of fame.”
David Foster Wallace was 33 when Infinite Jest was published in 1996 and the novel, a mammoth 1079 pages, has become widely regarded as one of the great modern American works.
Apart from starring on CBS’ How I Met Your Mother, Segel last appeared in a cameo role in this summer’s This Is The End, and is scheduled to appear opposite Cameron Diaz in the upcoming comedy Sex Tape. Eisenberg has a few projects forthcoming, including American Ultra opposite Kristen Stewart, which is set to film in April.
According to the report, The End of the Tour will film in February or March and will mark James Ponsoldt’s follow-up to the critically-acclaimed The Spectacular Now. David Kanter and Matt DeRoss of Anonymous Content will produce the project, alongside James Dahl of Modern Man Films.