Jon Stewart taking leave of absence from 'Daily Show' to make directorial debut with screenplay he wrote

Jon Stewart is taking a hiatus from his show, The Daily Show, so he can make his directorial debut with Rosewater.

The Comedy Central host will pass on his duties to Daily Show correspondent John Oliver for eight weeks.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rosewater is based off of BBC journalist Maziar Bahari's memoir Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity and Survival. He also wrote the screenplay.

This isn’t the first time Stewart will get involved in the film industry. Before he took on the role of Daily Show host in 1999, he acted in such films as Big Daddy, Playing by Heart and The Faculty and Half Baked.

Stewart will start his hiatus from his show of 14 years this June.

E! Online reports that Rosewater tells the story of Bahari’s incarceration for 118 days in Iran when he left London to cover the elections in 2009. While jailed he was repeatedly beaten.

In an interview with Bahari on his show in 2011, Stewart told him "Your ability to connect the story to your family, and the nuances you pick up, even from your captor, is incredible."