Favorite Broadway funnyman, Nathan Lane, will reprise his role in Jon Robin Baitz's Mizlansky/Zilinsky or "schmucks" in a film version, according to a report in Daily Variety.

Lane starred in the play when it had a limited run last season at Manhattan Theatre Club. The film, with screenplay by Baitz , will be directed by Joe Mantello, who directed the premiere of the show.

Miz/Zil is a Propaganda Films production and will be produced by their president, Steve Golin.

Last year Mizlanski/Zilinksi, Or, Schmucks, a reworking of Baitz's first play, replaced a slot in MTC's season when McNally's Corpus Christi was cancelled, not because of its controversial subject matter but because it wasn't yet completed. Mantello previously directed McNally's Love! Valour! Compassion!, starring Lane, in a staging so memorable, Mantello filed a lawsuit when a Florida theatre's production of L!V!C! seemed to mirror the MTC/Broadway version too closely.

Lane, whose NBC sitcom "Encore, Encore" premiered Tuesday, recently completed a Paul Rudnick (Jeffrey, I Hate Hamlet) scripted film, "Isn't She Great", also starring Bette Midler. Set in L.A. in 1984, Mizlansky/Zilinsky concerns B-movie producers Davis Mizlansky and Sam Zilinsky and their world of amoral Hollywood deal-making. Lane's Broadway credits include the 1992 Guys and Dolls revival and the 1996 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum revival, which won him a Tony Award. His film appearances include the 1996 The Birdcage.