Ricky Gervais Announces His ‘Retirement’

Gervais in Feature: Ricky Gervais signs on to Early Retirement for Warner Bros., based on pitch by screenwriter Mark Perez about a man who quits his job to spend more time with his family. There must have been more to that pitch, because on its face it sounds terribly boring. Although we suppose so does “one year in the life of a failing British paper company.� [Variety]

Peter Bjorn and John to Back Up Kanye?: Kanye West asks Peter Bjorn and John to be his backing band at a festival in Sweden in August. This could be the break Kanye’s been looking for to finally make it big with the Swedes. [Pitchfork]

New Eagles Album Coming Soon: The Eagles are wrapping up a new studio album, their first since 1979, with songs written by all four original members. The as-yet-untitled album will be played incessantly by douche bags in our daughter’s dorm in 2024. Oh, wait, sorry, we love them, for reasons too complicated to explain! [Billboard]

Lawrence Named for Snow: Director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) signs on to Snow and the Seven, martial-arts adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, for Disney. Yuen Wo-Ping will do fight choreography; Scott Moore and Jon Lucas wrote latest draft of script previously worked on by Michael Chabon. [Variety]

Butz Rides the Twain: Long-lost Mark Twain comedy Is He Dead? will premiere on Broadway in November, starring Norbert Leo Butz as an artist whose students fake his death to further their careers. David Ives tweaked the script; Michael Blakemore directs. Never let it be said that Broadway doesn’t take chances on untested playwrights! [Variety]