Jon Stewart is taking an extended break from Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” and if you haven’t already heard the reason, it will probably surprise you: Stewart is taking the summer off to direct a movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Stewart plans to be off the show for 12 weeks — including eight weeks in which the show will be producing new episodes. During that stretch he will be replaced by “Daily Show” correspondent John Oliver.

“Stewart is taking the break to make his feature directorial debut with ‘Rosewater,’” THR reports. “Stewart also wrote the screenplay for the adaptation of BBC journalist Maziar Bahari’s New York Times best-selling memoir ‘Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity and Survival.’”

The book details Bahari’s arrest in 2009 while covering an election protest in Iran. “He subsequently was interrogated and tortured during the next 118 days,” THR adds.