The Full Monty writer Simon Beaufoy is scripting an original comedy about Laurel and Hardy as one of the debut projects on Andrea Calderwood's FilmFour-bankrolled production outfit, Slate Films.

The untitled project, set up with Footprint Films, will be set behind the scenes in the world of 1930s comedy talkies. Also on Slate's development roster is Once Upon A Time In The Midlands, a provisionally-titled romantic comedy written by Shane Meadows and Paul Fraser.

Additionally, El Bulto is a comedy remake of the Mexican original, updated to contemporary New York. Produced with LA-based Jodi Cahn of Firebird Films, the project is the story of a musician who accidentally knocks himself out and wakes up 20 years later having gone from rock god to rock dinosaur.

Calderwood, who left Pathe Entertainment last year to set up Slate with a first-look deal at FilmFour, has also joined an existing FilmFour project, The Last King Of Scotland.