There were only a handful of big studio movies I was looking forward to this summer. Most have been delayed to a later release date (“The French Dispatch,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Soul,” “A Quiet Place II,” “In the Heights”) whereas one remaining title is still set for a July release, although I presume it will be rescheduled (that would be Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet”).
However, Judd Apatow’s much-anticipated “The King of Staten Island,” Universal’s Pete Davidson-starring comedy, will be hitting VOD in June, making it the latest film to cancel a traditional theatrical release for direct home viewing instead (after “Trolls World Tour” and “Artemis Fowl”). “The King of Staten Island” will be available to purchase on June 12th, a week before it was scheduled to debut in theaters. Davidson and Apatow had previously announced the news in a video posted via Twitter.
Apatow’s first movie since 2015’s “Trainwreck” clocks in at a whopping two hours and 16 minutes—his second-longest after Funny People. The latest trailer (below), seems to indicate that Apatow’s blend of humor and drama will be at the rendezvous again, and with Pete Davidson himself co-writing the script, you can tell this will have shades of an autobiographical film.
Here’s the official synopsis for the movie:
“Scott (Davidson) has been a case of arrested development ever since his firefighter father died when he was seven. He’s now reached his mid-20s having achieved little, chasing a dream of becoming a tattoo artist that seems far out of reach. As his ambitious younger sister heads off to college, Scott is still living with his exhausted ER nurse mother and spends his days smoking weed, hanging with the guys and secretly hooking up with his childhood friend Kelsey. But when his mother starts dating a loudmouth firefighter named Ray (Bill Burr, Netflix’s F Is for Family), it sets off a chain of events that will force Scott to grapple with his grief and take his first tentative steps toward moving forward in life. The film also stars Steve Buscemi as Papa, a veteran firefighter who takes Scott under his wing, and Pamela Adlon (FX’s Better Things) as Ray’s ex-wife, Gina.”
“The King Of Staten Island” co-stars Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow Pamela Adlon, Steve Buscemi, Ricky Velez (“Master of None”), Moises Arias (“Five Feet Apart”) and Lou Wilson (“The Guest Book”).
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.