Jon Stewart has hosted The Daily Show since taking over from Craig Kilborn in 1999. The program has won 18 prime-time Emmys during his tenure.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart will be without Jon Stewart for 12 weeks this summer as the host takes a break from the show to direct his first feature film.
The movie, Rosewater, is an adaptation of Maziar Bahari's memoir, Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival. Bahari, a dual Canadian-Iranian citizen, was arrested by the Iranian government while covering the upheavals that followed the disputed 2009 presidential elections for Newsweek magazine. He was kept prisoner and tortured for 118 days.
Stewart is not only directing the movie, he also wrote the screenplay, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which confirmed Stewart's upcoming hiatus.
The movie will have a budget of less than $10-million (U.S.), the Los Angeles Times reports.
Stewart will produce Rosewater alongside Drive producer Gigi Pritzker and Hollywood heavyweight Scott Rudin, who produced The Social Network and Moonrise Kingdom .
John Oliver will take up hosting duties on the Comedy Central show while Stewart is away, which means get ready for way more British accent during the broadcast.
Stewart has hosted The Daily Show since taking over from Craig Kilborn in 1999. The program has won 18 prime-time Emmys during his tenure – no pressure, John Oliver.
He won't be the only one feeling the pressure: Stewart often mocks the few movies he has acted in, which is entirely justified for a filmography that includes Half Baked and The Faculty.
Dave McGinn