We have yet to see a legit Key & Peele feature film collab (though they both appeared in WANDERLUST, albeit not together), but that’s gonna change real soon.
The comedy duo of Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key have been working on a number of projects, including a POLICE ACADEMY reboot, a comedy about a stolen cat named KEANU, and a horror film entitled GET OUT. With those varied projects, seemed as if they wanted to create a cinematic identity separate from the KEY & PEELE TV show.
However, it appears that they will be bringing one of their most famous sketches to the big screen: Key’s SUBSTITUTE TEACHER.
KEY & PEELE co-producers Rich Talarico and Alex Rubens will be writing the script, which will pit Key’s Mr. Garvey against a new teacher (played by Peele) angling for their students’ affections. No word on a director, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the show’s director, Peter Atencio, ended up signing on.
I never thought “Substitute Teacher” was among the duo’s finest characters (I love Key's energy, but the joke is fairly one-note), but it’s hard to deny the bit’s popularity. Like with their terrific East/West Bowl sketches, some of the goofy names from the bit (including De-nice and, of course, A-A-ron) have ingrained themselves into the pop culture lexicon. It kinda makes sense that this would be the first sketch of theirs to be drawn out into a feature, and I have enough esteem for the pair that I don’t think they’d hop onboard unless they thought there was something they could do with it.
Let’s just hope it’s more WAYNE’S WORLD than SUPERSTAR.
