Help Ricky Gervais invent lying

Fancy yourself as a bit of a professional liar?

If so, Ricky Gervais needs you!

To celebrate the release of The Invention Of Lying, out on DVD and Blu-ray on 1st February, we've put together a brilliant competition for all our Twitter pals.

In a massive Total Film exclusive, our winner will take home a fake Oscar for 'Most Comprehensive Screenplay' and a signed Black Plague director's chair and script. We'll also get some signed goodies for our judge's favourite 3 runners up.

Oh, and the person judging the entries? None other than My Ricky Gervais himself. Ace, right?

So here’s the deal.

In The Invention of Lying , Ricky Gervais plays screenwriter Mark Bellison, who is tasked with writing a film about the 1300s entitled Black Plague . Unfortunately for him, that’s a century where “not much happened”.

As he attempts to come up with a script, Bellison forges the film’s opening line. It goes something like this:

On the very first day of the fourteenth century, a momentous occasion occurred. It began as a day much like any other. The sun rose, the people awoke, workers began to work, babies began to cry. But all of that was interrupted when....

Here’s where you come in.

We’d like you to complete the script in 140 characters or less.

What happens next? Jim Cameron wins two Golden Globes for Avatar ? Oh wait, that really happened.

Head on over to our Twitter and tweet your entries. If you don't follow us yet, sign up to be in with a chance of winning.

The comp closes on Monday 25th January 2010. Ricky's' decisions will be final and, we presume, amusing.

Go on, if he can do it, so can you - find us on Twitter here.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.