'Princess Bride' Remake With Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner Coming Soon

Quibi, the streaming platform co-founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, will be releasing an at-home [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Quibi, the streaming platform co-founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, will be releasing an at-home remake of The Princess Bride featuring Hollywood stars recreating every scene from the beloved 1987 film. The first chapter will be released on Monday and features the film's original director Rob Reiner playing Peter Falk's narrator/grandfather character. The roster of celebrities joining in includes Joe Jonas, Sophie Turner, Jennifer Garner, Elijah Wood, Chris Pine, Neil Patrick Harris and Jon Hamm.

The Princess Bride Quibi style will be directed by Jason Reitman, who previously helmed live-readings of the script, reports Variety. Each segment will be released every two weeks and was shot by the celebrities at home. There were also several unique casting decisions, like Jonas playing Robin Wright's Princess Buttercup and Turner replacing Cary Elwes as Westley. One chapter will include a corgi as the "Rodent of Unusual Size" and LEGO Minifigures and stuffed animals will stand in for crowded scenes.

Quibi plans to donate $1 million in honor of the project to chef Jose Andres' charity World Central Kitchen, which sends meals to those affected most by the coronavirus pandemic. Other actors who signed up for the project include Lucas Hedges, Beanie Feldstein, Taika Waititi, Diego Luna, Andy Serkis, Josh Gad, Patton Oswalt, Beanie Feldstein, David Burtka, Common, Tiffany Haddish, Annabelle Wallis and Keegan-Michael Key.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Reitman said he began thinking about the project during the coronavirus pandemic's early days after California's stay-at-home order was put in place. He wanted to make something "of value" while being stuck at home. "I just thought, Can we remake an entire movie at home? And I had seen that a fan-made Star Wars had been done," he said. "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.'"

Reitman received the blessing of everyone he needed in order to get The Princess Bride remade. Producer Norman Lear and the estate of writer William Goldman both signed off. Mark Knopfler agreed to have his original music used, with other artists performing for the remake. Reitman said everyone involved is donating their time and have been "working tirelessly for the last two to three months to create an entire movie from scratch, just because."

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