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Andy Samberg signs up for HBO Wimbledon mockumentary

Andy Samberg, Kit Harington, Lena Dunham sign up for Wimbledon mockumentary
Andy Samberg signs up for HBO Wimbledon mockumentary
Andy Samberg signs up for HBO Wimbledon mockumentary

How great is this? Andy Samberg and Kit Harington will star in an HBO sports mockumentary called 7 Days In Hell about tennis players who battle it out in a seven-day match at Wimbledon.

If that plotline sounds somewhat familiar, well, it is. The project is loosely based on the longest match in tennis history between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010, which took three days to complete. Isner won 70-68 in the fifth set out on Court 18 (where the mockumentary is set to take place), and a plaque hangs to commemorate the 11-hour match. 

The mockumentary has some strong comedic pedigree. Along with Samberg, Lena Dunham, Fred Armisen and Will Forte have signed on to the project. Based on the write-up from Deadline, this is going to be -- to steal a phrase used in nearly every write-up of that historic Wimbledon match -- epic. 

"Based on breakdowns I’ve seen, Samberg’s Aaron Williams is tennis’ superstar bad boy, while Harington’s Charles Poole is channeling Andy Murray, a tennis prodigy and certified truck driver. Adding to their rivalry is Gillan’s supermodel Lily, Charles’ childhood friend who made a sex tape with Aaron. Steenburgen plays Charles’ psychotic and controlling mother, while Forte plays a tennis historian."

WAGs, controlling parents and Andy Murray -- so far, they've captured tennis in a nutshell. We can't wait.


Published
Courtney Nguyen
COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.