Armando Iannucci has announced some of the stars that have been cast in his next full-length film, Death of Stalin. We assume this is all genuine as it isn't April 1.

Posting on Twitter Iannucci writes that Simon Russell Beale will be Stalin's Chief Torturer Lavrentiy Beria, Steve Buscemi, will be President Nikita Khrushchev and Michael Palin will play Soviet Foreign Secretary Molotov. Jeffrey Tambor, best known for Transparent and The Larry Sanders Show, will be Stalin's official successor, Georgy Malenkov.

Update 1/6/16 – Iannucci has followed up by adding the following: Anastas Mikoyan, Soviet powerhouse, will be Paul Whitehouse, Comrade Andryev, Head of Radio Moscow will be Paddy Considine, Russian pianist Maria Yudina will be played by the fabulous Olga Kurylenko.

As the title suggests, the film tells the story of the Soviet leader's last days. It is adapted from Fabien-Nury’s graphic novel. The screenplay is by Iannucci and David Schneider with In The Loop writer Ian Martin also contributing.