Jon Stewart Breaks From 'Daily Show' To Direct Documentary; John Oliver To Sit-in As Host

Jon Stewart plans to take a 12-week hiatus from The Daily Show to make his directing debut with the documentary Rosewater.

Stewart, who has helmed Comedy Central’s The Daily Show since 1999, will be making the ambitious leap from the host’s chair to the director’s chair in his new project, according to USA Today. Entitled Rosewater, the documentary will be an adaptation of reporter Maziar Bahari’s memoir about his trip to Iran in June 2009 to cover the nation’s presidential elections for the BBC – Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity and Survival.

Not only is Stewart directing the project, he also penned the script. The story details Bahari’s one-week trip that spiraled into a terrifying imprisonment that lasted over 100 days. The title comes from the scent Bahari identified with his brutal interrogator – rosewater. Bahari’s story resonates deeply with Stewart, as the journalist’s appearance on The Daily Show served as “evidence” that was used to peg him as a spy.

When Stewart leaves the show this summer, John Oliver, Daily Show regular, will step up to the plate as guest-host for 8 weeks.

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