A slew of actors have come together to star in and produce a lockdown version of beloved fantasy film The Princess Bride.
Director Jason Reitman is the man behind the project, who thought it would be a nice way to keep busy during isolation.
“I had seen that a fan-made Star Wars had been done,” Reitman told Vanity Fair. “I just started reaching out to actors I knew, saying, ‘Is this something you’d want to do?’ And the response was kind of immediate and fast. It was like, ‘Oh—that sounds like fun.’”
The homemade film, which will raise funds for the World Central Kitchen charity, will be shown in chapters on new streaming platform Quibi. World Central Kitchen provides fresh meals to those most vulnerable during the pandemic, like seniors who can’t risk going outside for essentials. The organisation also supports restaurant workers in need of a job and food delivery drivers.
Actors include Josh Gad, who of course plays the little boy at the beginning of the movie. Common, Tiffany Haddish, Hugh Jackman wearing a bamboo steamer as a crown, Jennifer Garner, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner, Neil Patrick Harris, Chris Pine, Jack Black, Diego Luna, J.K. Simmons, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, Taika Waititi, David Spade, Jon Hamm, Courtney Ford, Zoey Deutch, and Zazie Beetz also co-star. There’s more, but you’ll just have to wait and see.
“I just do a very brief scene breakdown,” Reitman explained. “I go through the original scene and get a frame of each still that they need to do, and I send them those to create a version of storyboards. I send them the sides from the original script, and I give them a small list of props and wardrobe and location.”
Easy! Then the entire thing is sort of just taped together. The homemade film just screams “Year 8 drama class” to me.
Here’s a sneak peek.
Joe Jonas’s very bad acting is superb, I must say. Also, full marks to their dog – best bit of the entire thing.
FUN FACT: the man playing the grandfather is Rob Reiner, the director of the original film.
Chapters will begin streaming from today on Quibi. Expect little bits and pieces to pop up on Twitter or Instagram – the usual suspects.
To be clear, this is the only Princess Bride remake Hollywood is allowed to do.
