Fool's Paradise Trailer: Charlie Day Stars In A Showbiz Comedy With One Of Ray Liotta's Final Roles

The long wait for Charlie Day fans is finally over, and the trailer for his directorial debut, "Fool's Paradise," is finally here! Previously titled "El Tonto," the film has been in development for years and underwent significant reshoots during the early part of the pandemic, but now we're finally going to get a chance to see what Day's film is really going to look like. "Fool's Paradise" is a bit of a farce, following a man (Day) who has lost the ability to speak — due to mental illness — and who just so happens to look like a method actor who's being a total pain in his publicist's behind (also Day). The actor and his publicist (Ray Liotta in one of his final roles) manage to make the mute man a star, although that's going to cause plenty of hilarity given his whole non-speaking situation.

Day wrote and directed the film, which also stars Liotta, Ken Jeong, Edie Falco, Kate Beckinsale, Common, Jillian Bell, Jimmi Simpson, Jason Sudeikis, Dean Norris, and John Malkovich. Eagle-eyed "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" fans can also spot several of Day's cast-mates in the trailer below, including Glenn Howerton and Day's wife, Mary Elizabeth Ellis.

"Fool's Paradise" looks like a wild satirical romp through Hollywood, like "Babylon" by way of Charlie Chaplin, with a fabulously funny cast that's sure to deliver lots of laughs. Charlie Day himself is pretty great at playing the clown, as his character on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is regularly the butt of jokes and once spectacularly failed a scientific experiment to improve his intelligence, so he sure picked the right role for himself. Jimmi Simpson as a late-night talk show host is also inspired, and it will be interesting to see where the rest of Day's friends and "It's Always Sunny" co-stars end up.

Here's the official synopsis:

A satirical comedy about a down on his luck publicist, who gets his lucky break when he discovers a man recently released from a mental health facility looks just like a method actor who refuses to leave his trailer. With the help of a powerful producer, the publicist helps the man become a huge star, even marrying his beautiful leading lady. Their adventures lead them to cross paths with drunken co-stars, irreverent unhoused action heroes, unpredictable directors, super agents, and power-mad moguls. Fame and fortune are not all they're cracked up to be, and the two men must fight their way back to the things that matter the most.

While Day had originally titled the film "El Tonto" and was ready to start trying to sell the finished film to studios, he ended up taking the advice of his friend and fellow director Guillermo del Toro, who helped him reshape the film into what it is today. Notably, "El Tonto" isn't all that different from "Fool's Paradise," as "El Tonto" translates to "The Fool."

"Fool's Paradise" hits theaters on May 12, 2023.