Andy Samberg has agreed to star in the unusual forthcoming romantic comedy 42.6 Years as a guy who has been cryogenically preserved. Samberg originally became famous through Saturday Night Live, but many people remember him best for playing Jake Peralta in the wildly popular NBC original sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine. 

Since the discontinuation of the police comedy, Samberg has offered his skills to a variety of projects, including presenting the Peacock baking competition Baking It with Maya Rudolph, another veteran of Saturday Night Live.

Samberg has reportedly agreed to join 42.6 Years as a cryogenically preserved guy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. According to the rumor, Jean Smart, who recently had an appearance in Damien Chazelle’s classic Hollywood epic Babylon and starred in the film Watchmen, would join Samberg. 

The concept, which was conceived by Samberg and the movie’s writer Seth Reiss, who recently enjoyed success with co-writing The Menu, is planned to be directed by Cruella and I, Tonya’s Craig Gillespie.

Everything We Know About 42.6 Years

A fresh take on the rom-com genre, 42.6 Years is produced by Ali Bell, Samberg, and acclaimed filmmaker Craig Gillespie, who is well renowned for directing Pam & Tommy. It centers on a young guy (Samberg) who is required to undergo an experimental surgery that causes him to be cryogenically frozen. 

He is saved by the treatment, although it takes him 42.6 years to awaken. He remains physically the same despite the passage of time, but his existence is empty save from his ex-girlfriend (Smart), who has grown older as a result of the surgery.

The announcement provides an intriguing image for the movie despite the lack of more information regarding the narrative. Samberg is well recognized for his comic skills, particularly when playing a character who is a fish out of the water, and these skills were on full show the whole time he played Jake Peralta on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. 

Like Samberg’s Palm Springs in 2020, 42.6 Years seems to be taking a typical romantic comedy premise and turning it on its head. Many rom-coms have two separated lovers who grow apart before reconciling in later life, but the sci-fi twist in 42.6 Years should make for a far more compelling narrative—especially since Smart, the actor opposite Samberg, is a well-known performer.

There is currently no set release date for Amazon Studios’ 42.6 Years because it is still in the very early stages of production. Also unknown is if the movie will first be shown in theaters before going online for streaming. 42.6 Years seems to be in good shape for success thanks to a genre-defying idea, the addition of Andy Samberg and Jean Smart, and a writer who showed his comic and expectation-defying storytelling chops in The Menu.