Helms gets Civil

Ed Helms is one of the best parts of “The Office,” which is saying a lot because that’s a show with a lot of great parts (but it’s stuff like this that helps clinch it. But as of yet, we haven’t seen a lot of Helms’ genius on the big screen. That’s about to change though as he’s signed a deal with Warner Bros. for his first lead role in an upcoming comedy. Helms will star in the untitled Civil War comedy as a history buff and civil war re-enacter who, along with his friends, gets transported back to the actual civil war and must find a way back to present day without screwing up the natural timeline. Steve Carell, Helms’ “Office” co-star and buddy from their “Daily Show” days together, will produce the film through his recently set up Carousel production company. Helms has another WB comedy on this way this year, the Todd Phillips comedy THE HANGOVER. He’s also developing another comedy for Judd Apatow titled A WHOLE NEW HUGH (though that seems stuck in the Apatow logjam).