A film is to be made about the life of legendary comic Bill Hicks. Collider has reported that director Richard Linklater has signed on to make the film for Focus Features.

The School of Rock director was reportedly a fan of Hicks when he was growing up in Texas. Following a screening of the 2009 documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story (pictured), co-director Matt Harlock told IndieLondon that Linklater considers himself a contemporary of the late comedian. The director’s older brother went to the same school as Hicks.

Hicks died in February 1994 at the age of 32. In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked him 13th on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time.

More here.

Buy American: The Bill Hicks Story here.