It’s been five years since Judd Apatow’s last film, Trainwreck, and in that time he’s kept plenty busy. His career has always been about introducing young comedic talents to a broader audience (think Seth Rogen, Amy Schumer, and Steve Carell)), and while Pete Davidson isn’t exactly an unknown, The King of Staten Island is definitely his chance to shine on his biggest stage yet.
Directed by Apatow, who co-wrote the script with Davidson and Dave Sirus, the story is loosely based on the SNL breakout’s coping with grief after the death of his firefighter father. He plays Scott, a burnout with no direction who is still at home living with his widowed mother. His life is flipped upside down when she starts dating another firefighter (Bill Burr), and Scott immediately dislikes the guy.
Universal recently unveiled a plan to keep The King of Staten Island in its original June 12th release spot, rather than move the film like so many others have done. However, it’ll drop on VOD rather than in theaters, which could turn out to be a good thing. Clocking in at 2 hours and 16 minutes, this is Apatow’s second-longest movie since Funny People, which happens to be the lowest-grossing of his career. As for Davidson, he’s not exactly stretching himself from the role he just played in Big Time Adolescence, so let’s hope the personal touches add a different dimension to it.
SYNOPSIS: Over his storied career, Judd Apatow has elevated a series of promising young comedy talents to their first major big-screen performance, including Steve Carell, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Kristen Wiig, Amy Schumer and Kumail Nanjiani.
This summer, Apatow directs Saturday Night Live breakout Pete Davidson in a bracing comedy about love, loss and laughter on Staten Island.
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 (Maude Apatow, HBO’s Euphoria) heads off to college, Scott is still living with his exhausted ER nurse mother (Oscar® winner Marisa Tomei) and spends his days smoking weed, hanging with the guys—Oscar (Ricky Velez, Master of None), Igor (Moises Arias, Five Feet Apart) and Richie (Lou Wilson, TV’s The Guest Book)—and secretly hooking up with his childhood friend Kelsey (Bel Powley, Apple TV+’s The Morning Show).
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.
