Recreating the nightclub at the center of Saturday Night Fever is no cheap task, as one Italian entrepreneur found out.
Ahead of the film’s 40th anniversary on Thursday, Gianluca Mech told The New York Post on Dec. 9 that he was spending $200,000 to turn a Chinese restaurant in Bay Ridge, New York City into the 2001 Odyssey Disco.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The Post reported on Saturday that everything went according to plan, with Randy Jones of The Village People, Carol Douglas and the Trammps brought in to perform disco classics.
“It’s quite a lot of money, but it’s worth it. It’s been my dream since I was a child to dance where Saturday Night Fever was done,” the 48-year-old Mech told the Post. “At 10 [years old], I said, ‘I want to come to New York and dance.’ People thought I was crazy. And look at me now.”
Mech also took 50 of his closest friends to the club and hired a John Travolta look-alike. DJ Monti Rock, who appeared in Saturday Night Fever, was the DJ for the night.
In addition to turning the clock back to 1977 in the club, Mech also spent $5,000 on a custom white Dolce & Gabbana suit to wear. He didn’t go all the way though, ditching the disco-era bell-bottoms.
Mech was only eight-years-old when Saturday Night Fever came out, and admits that some of the themes were not easy for him to digest at the time. But Mech felt a kinship with Travolta’s Tony Manero as an outsider.
“Like Tony, I was looking for something else. When you have strange ideas in the countryside, people look at you like a fruitcake,” Mech told the Post. “I come from a very conservative family, so the idea I had to go around the world [promoting] a different way to eat, it was strange to my parents.”
According to the Post, Mech’s party was open to anyone who showed up wearing a full disco-era outfit.
Saturday Night Fever was an instant success when it opened on Dec. 14, 1977, spawning one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time. The movie also turned Travolta into a star, earning him an Oscar nomination.
As for Mech, he’s become a millionaire thanks to his Giunluca Mech Italiano Diet.
Photo credit: Facebook / Paramount
Most Viewed
-
(Credit: Rafa Jodar / Getty Images) -
NORTH BERGEN, NJ – AUGUST 23: Exterior view of a Walmart store on August 23, 2020 in North Bergen, New Jersey. Walmart saw its profits jump in latest quarter as e-commerce sales surged during the coronavirus pandemic (Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress via Getty Images) -
TV talk show with female celebrity flat vector illustration. Woman sitting on sofa and talking with host, discussing news in studio. Videographers filming broadcasting. Television, interview concept -
A ring of vibrant marigold flowers with glowing candles at the center, set against a dark background. (Credit: Eduardo Monroy Husillos / Getty Images) -
NEW YORK CITY – DECEMBER 19: "Toil and Trouble" – Elsbeth is thrown into the world of television after the showrunner of a long-running police procedural is brutally murdered in his office, and although it appears to be the act of a disgruntled fan, she begins to suspect the show's longtime star Regina Coburn (Laurie Metcalf) who yearns for artistic fulfillment. Meanwhile, Judge Crawford (Michael Emerson) continues to be a thorn in Elsbeth's side, on the CBS original series ELSBETH, Thursday, Dec. 19 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Carra Patterson as Kaya Blanke. (Photo by Michael Parmelee/CBS via Getty Images) -
Official promotional artwork for <em>The Voice</em> -
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 13: (L-R) Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom attend the 10th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on April 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize)
