He’s known as a funny man, but The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart will be putting his serious face on after it was revealed that the comic and TV host would be directing his first film, adaptation Rosewater.

Whilst it’s certainly interesting news regards Stewart’s career, and you ‘d reckon he’d definitely be able to make a good fist of helming a movie, it’s perhaps less good news for fans of his dayjob, The Daily Show. As the New York Times reported, making the film is going to require Stewart taking 12 weeks off the program. “I am a television person who is accustomed to having a thought at 10 a.m. and having it out there at 6:30 p.m. and moving on, so this is a little scary, yes,” Mr. Stewart said to the paper.

The film is an adaptation of a book called Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story Of Love, Captivity And Survival, by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy. The story concerns Iranian journalist Bahari’s 118-day imprisonment following the 2009 Iran elections, which he was covering. Talking about it, Stewart commented “One of the reasons we are in this business is to challenge ourselves, and I really connected to Maziar’s story. It’s a personal story but one with universal appeal about what it means to be free.”

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart at the Primetime Emmys last year

The film is set to cost an estimated $30 million-$40 million to make, with financing coming from Gigi Pritzker’s Odd Lot Entertainment. Scott Rudin, Ms. Pritzke and Stewart are on production duties. As for Stewart’s replacement on The Daily Show, it’s been confirmed that regular contributor John Oliver will step in for eight weeks, with the other four expected to coincide with its hiatus anyway.