Jay Baruchel and Goon’s Michael Dowse reteam for a comedy about the daredevil stuntman Ken Carter with The Stunt Driver

Back in my day, we had daredevils like Evil Knievel and Super Dave Osborne. They’d defy death while entertaining crowds of cheering fans, risking life and limb for applause. I never wanted to be a daredevil, but I did appreciate their bravery and risk-taking approach to life. Jay Baruchel is a daredevil enthusiast, too, and he’s reuniting with Goon’s Michael Dowse for The Stunt Driver, an upcoming comedy about the daredevil stuntman Ken Carter.

According to Deadline, The Stunt Driver revolves around “The Mad Canadian” Carter, who “attempts to execute the boldest maneuver of his career during the 1970s, launching a rocket car off a 90-foot-high ramp across the St. Lawrence River. The stunt would have him jump from Canada into the United States, covering more than a mile.” The film “follows Carter’s quest to make his seemingly impossible dream a reality, chronicling his preparation for the jump and the absurd challenges he faces along the way.”

Jay Baruchel and Michael Dowse’s The Stunt Driver is inspired by the National Film Board of Canada’s 1981 documentary The Devil at Your Heels. Production kicks into high gear in Montreal in the spring.

“Ken Carter’s story speaks to anyone who has dreamed the impossible and been kicked in the teeth trying to achieve it. I couldn’t be more excited to work with my old friend Jay. Jay brings the perfect combination of comedy, belying great dramatic tension to this complex showman,” Dowse said about re-teaming with Jay Baruchel for The Stunt Driver.

Jay Baruchel recently played Carter in Nick Santora’s Fubar, an action comedy series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a C.I.A. operative on the edge of retirement who discovers a family secret and is called back into the field for one last job. Meanwhile, his work is complete for Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks, a romantic comedy about a 24-year-old music critic who gets romantically involved with members of an indie band she decides to publicize, set against Montreal’s indie music scene in 2011.

Are you familiar with Ken Carter’s stunt work? You can watch footage from his final stunt on YouTube, but I must warn you, it’s disturbing. I’m sure Dowse and Baruchel have big plans for The Stunt Driver, and we’re curious to see how the project comes together.