20 years ago, when you mention the name Peter Farrelly, you automatically think of him and his brother, co-directors of slapstick comedies such as “There’s Something About Mary” and “Me, Myself, and Irene.” Now, when you mention Peter Farrelly, you think of “Green Book” and the Oscars debacle from a couple of years ago. So, what does the future hold for Farrelly? Is he going to return to slapstick or continue to make films that are divisive amongst film fans? It’s unclear, but we do know that his next film, “The Greatest Beer Run,” is going to have a pretty solid cast.
According to Deadline, Apple is in talks to finance, produce, and distribute “The Greatest Beer Run,” the newest film from filmmaker Peter Farrelly. And to sweeten the deal, it appears that Zac Efron and Russell Crowe are in talks to star in the feature, with Bill Murray being eyed for a supporting role. Yeah, that’s definitely enough star power to give people a slight bit of hesitation before writing it off, huh?
The new film is based on the book “The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty and War,” by Chick Donahue and J.T. Malloy, and tells the real-life story of Donahue’s quest to leave New York in 1967 to bring beers to his friends fighting in Vietnam. In the film, it’s expected that Efron will have the lead role as Donahue. “The Greatest Beer Run” is co-written by Farrelly alongside Brian Currie and Pete Jones.
As mentioned, Farrelly is a bit of a hot button director right now after his Oscars success with “Green Book.” That film earned all sorts of praise and box office success but also experienced a lot of controversy from folks that felt it lacked nuance and care in its depiction of racism. Ultimately, people put it up next to “The Help” as an example of a film, written and directed by white men, that has the familiar “white savior” trope.
So, while we’re not sure the politics of “The Greatest Beer Run,” there will be a lot of eyes on Farrelly’s “Green Book” follow-up to see how he crafts his Vietnam War film. A release date for the feature has yet to be announced.