Tom Shadyac (Bruce Almighty) will direct a biopic about the life of standup comedian Sam Kinison for HBO Films.  The film is based on the memoir Brother Sam: The Short, Spectacular Life of Sam Kinison, written by Bill Kinison and Steve Delson.  Brother Sam chronicles Kinison’s transition preacher to one of the most popular and beloved comics of the 1980s.  Kinison died in a tragic traffic accident in 1992.

Variety reports that Rich Wilkes (xXx) will write the film, which spent years at Universal before landing at HBO, who was developing the film as a TV movie with Dan Fogler (Balls of Fury) set to star as Kinison.  After the jump, you can see Fogler as Kinison in a screen test for the film.