As an actor, Will Ferrell obviously came to terms with his inner dork some time ago, so there was no small amount of irony involved when his production company recently acquired the film rights to King Dork, the debut novel from Frank Portman. The book, which came out this past April, is the story of a high school student and song-writer named Tom Henderson whose life is changed when he finds and reads his late father's copy of Catcher in the Rye.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gary Sanchez, the apparently fictitious financial backer and spiritual leader of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions had this to say: "Chris and Adam assured me this book, once turned into a movie, will make $500 million domestic. If it does not, I will hit each of their hands with a hammer." Tough talk for a make believe mogul. The agreement is part of Ferrell and McKay's two-year, first-look deal with Paramount Vantage that was reported on by Cinematical's own Martha Fischer back in June.

Ferrell is, of course, a former Saturday Night Live cast member and the star of several successful comedies, the most recent of which is Stranger Than Fiction. His partner Adam McKay was the writer and director of the Will Ferrell vehicles Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The two will produce King Dork, with Chris Henchy overseeing on behalf of Gary Sanchez Productions.

[Via Moviehole]

And no, I'm not talking about those plans to remake that (classic?) 1987 horror flick The Stepfather. Yeah, this one sounds just a tiny bit better. According to the Hollywood Reporter (who deserve a few props for their fabulous new site design), Paramount Vantage has nabbed Stepfather off a pitch by Brian Burns (Entourage). Hey, and guess who else decided to stick their names in? Why, none other than Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy, who will produce the pic via their Gary Sanchez Prods.

Stepfather is being described as a "broad comedy" that "takes a look at the perfect stepfather's impact on the family dynamic." I'm not sure what they mean by the "perfect stepfather," though I suppose that involves a guy who doesn't drink, smoke and scream at the kids. Currently, there's no word on whether Ferrell will star, though we assume Burns will pen the script (possibly with help from Ferrell and McKay since it seems that's how they like to roll).

Perhaps the funniest part of this story came in McKay's description of how their production company's namesake, Gary Sanchez, took the news. Says McKay, "When Will, Chris and I first told Gary Sanchez about this, a tear came to his eye, for Gary was raised by a stepfather. But when we told him about the comedic take Brian had on the subject, he let out a laugh that echoed throughout the valleys of Paraguay. 'Buy it,' he said. Then we drank and shot skeet. That's how most of our meetings end -- shooting clay pigeons." Most believe Sanchez is a fictional character the boys conjured up, but they insist he's an ex-NFL kicker from Paraguay.