Ed Helms and Steve Carell Team Up For Civil War Comedy

The Los Angeles Times is posing the question, “Is Ed Helms the new Steve Carell?”

There is a lot of evidence to support the claim that Helms’ career is headed into Carell-esque territory. Both got their breaks on The Daily Show and both are on NBC’s hit The Office. Fans of The Office know that Helms has been the funniest part of that show from last season all the way through the current season, making him the heir apparent to Carell’s Michael Scott popularity. Both have a nerdy likability that is incredibly marketable right now.

Carell’s movie career shot to stardom after the massive amount of attention he received for his hilarious role in 40-Year Old Virgin. Helms is now attached to a bunch of comedy projects, probably thanks in no small part to his role in the immensely successful comedy, The Hangover.

Their star power is about to collide in a great way, as Helms and Carell re-teaming up to make an untitled project about Civil War re-enactors who are transported back to the actual Civil War. The project is still in development, but with Carell producing and Helms credited as one of the screenwriters, it likely won’t go forward without both of them starring in it. Also, given that neither can film movies except during The Office hiatuses, it will probably be a while before we can likely see it go forward. In the meantime, we have this to look forward to: The Hangover 2 will shoot next fall during another “Office” hiatus, in which Helms will reprise his uptight Stu Price character.