‘Fire Island’ Review: Joel Kim Booster’s Lively Gay Rom-Com Puts the Pride in ‘Pride and Prejudice’

Andrew Ahn has the fall of Quibi to thank for being the director of “Fire Island.”

Bowen Yang perform a cover of Britney Spears’ “Sometimes” in the Hulu film . In true romcom fashion, the actor gets to bear all his emotions during a pivotal musical moment.While speaking to ET, writer and star Joel Kim Booster and director Andrew Ahn break down the epic moment. “It’s my favorite scene in the movie, for sure,” Booster says.As Howie, Yang takes the stage three quarters of the way through Booster’s queer, modern adaptation of to sing an unexpected version of the 1999 hit song while his friends, Luke (Matt Rogers) and Keegan (Tomás Matos), provide backup and add a little choreography to the scene. The scene comes near the end of their trip to the gay mecca as the limits of Howie and Noah’s (Booster) friendship have been tested by their unexpected and complicated romantic feelings for Charlie (James Scully) and Will (Conrad Ricamora), respectively.  When it comes to the song selection, “it was Bowen’s choice,” Booster says, explaining that the scene itself “was always written into this script [and] that Bowen would sing karaoke in that moment.” He adds, “I asked Bowen for a list of songs he’d be comfortable singing and ‘Sometimes’ was sort of the top choice.

, a queer, modern adaptation of, was first announced, it marked the first time a major film was being written and directed by as well as starring openly gay Asian people. In this case, that’s director Andrew Ahn, writer and star Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang. Later, the Hulu movie made news again when it revealed that it had filled out all the supporting roles with LGBTQ actors, including Margaret Cho, Matt Rogers and Conrad Ricamora. “Joel and I felt very committed to casting queer actors for this,” Ahn tells ET.

Michael Appler On Wednesday evening in New York City — about 60 miles and a ferry ride away from its subject— “Fire Island,” Joel Kim Booster’s romantic comedy about a weekend spent in New York’s chosen queer haven, held its premiere at the SVA Theatre.On 23rd Street in Chelsea, guests including Alok Viad-Menon, Jackie Cox, Peppermint and John Cameron Mitchell, as well as stars Bowen Yang, Matt Rogers, Conrad Ricamora and James Scully assembled to celebrate the film as part of New York’s NewFest Pride. You could have lifted the premiere’s guest list from any summer weekend spent at the Pines, something to be celebrated for a new film distributed by a gatekeeper studio like Searchlight Pictures.

modernizes Jane Austen’s 1813 oft-adapted novel, relocates it to the thumping New York beach vacation spot and makes nearly every character a 30-something gay guy. Elizabeth, Mr.

Bowen Yang, Matt Rogers is having a much-deserved breakout moment onscreen, thanks to back-to-back roles in and  -- two projects that let the comedian shine as very funny, very different characters.“I’m really proud of the fact that I was able to show versatility,” he tells ET about playing an ambitious employee at a home shopping channel named Darcy on the Showtime comedy and the messy, drunk friend Luke in the Hulu film. In the former, co-created by and starring Vanessa Bayer, Rogers loves being able to subvert the archetype of the “gay assistant.” “I love that the character and the script we’re aware of the trope and how it’s played out,” he says, explaining that Darcy “comes in, wearing designer garments and is very concerned with the fact that you call him the senior associate and not the assistant. And I thought, ‘OK, we’re already off to a very self-aware start with the character.'«While Darcy, who very much keeps SVN in working order for CEO Patricia Cochran (an Emmy-worthy Jenifer Lewis), brings the laughs, he’s not just there to be the butt of some laugh-out-loud moment.

A year into the COVID pandemic, out director Andrew Ahn received the script for Joel Kim Booster’s “Fire Island” and knew almost immediately he needed to make it.

. The NBC sketch comedy series said goodbye to four longtime cast members -- Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, Kyle Mooney and Pete Davidson -- who all made their last appearance during the season 47 finale. While speaking with ET's Denny Directo about his new film,, breakout star Bowen Yang said that the last day on set “was so emotional.” “It is just these four people who have defined what that show is in the last decade,” he continued, referring to the fact that McKinnon had been on the show for 11 seasons, while Bryant had been on for 10, Mooney for nine and Davidson for eight.He went on to explain that the cast members were “distinct presences, distinct voices and four people who were sort of the best to ever do it.” For Yang, who just completed his second season as an on-air cast member after first joining as a writer in 2018, this will mark the first time they haven’t been around during his brief tenure.

Taylor Zakhar Perez got cast in one of the most awaited movies of the year. The 30-year-old actor is starring in “Red, White, and Royal Blue,” a new Amazon romantic comedy based on the best-selling novel. Zakhar will star as Alex Claremont-Diaz, a bisexual Latino, who also happens to be the son of the President of the United States.Zendaya tops Time 100’s Most Influential People of 2022Zendaya looks sophisticated and chic with new haircut on the set of ‘Challengers’A post shared by TAYLOR ZAKHAR PEREZ (@taylorzakharperez)“Red, White and Royal Blue” was a groundbreaking success when it was first released in 2019.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterThe anticipated film adaptation of bestselling novel “Red, White & Royal Blue” has found its leading heartthrobs — Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine.The same-sex romantic comedy follows the shining heir to an American presidency and his whirlwind romance with a second-in-line British royal, as told in Casey McQuiston’s groundbreaking book.Set up at Amazon Studios, additional cast announced Wednesday includes Emmy nominee Clifton Collins Jr., Stephen Fry (“The Dropout”) and Sarah Shahi (“Sex/Life”). Tony Award winner Matthew López (“The Inheritance”) is directing and writing the script.

San Francisco Pride organisers have been told by the city’s Democratic Mayor London Breed that she will boycott the annual Pride parade, if police officers are not allowed to march  in uniform. Police presence in pride marches have been a contentious issue across the world, including in Australia. In 2020, in the wake of protests over the murder of George Floyd, SF Pride organisers had banned the police from marching in the parade in uniform.

Chris Pratt admitted he "sacrificed a lot" to film the "Jurassic World" trilogy. Sitting down with co-star Bryce Dallas Howard, Pratt explained it's "sad" to see the franchise come to an end. "Both of us sacrificed a lot over the past eight years, blessed beyond all belief to be a part of this thing, and it's sad," Pratt told the Associated Press.

How do you write a queer romantic comedy? That is, not one where you merely gender flip a lead (“rom-com, but make it gay!”) but actually create a story that interrogates the very foundational tropes of the genre? If you’re Joel Kim Booster, you do so by adapting one of the most beloved Jane Austen novels of all time, the one whose recent big-screen adaptations have earned the likes of Keira Knightley and Renée Zellweger Oscar nominations.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features EditorFreida Pinto is presented as the ideal bride for a picky bachelor in the  trailer for “Mr. Malcolm’s List,” directed by Emma Holly Jones and starring Pinto, Sọpẹ Dìrísù, Zawe Ashton and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

Samuel L. Jackson (The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey) has signed on to star alongside Chris Pratt in Alcon Entertainment’s animated Garfield film.

PrEP or Cherry Jones, or they object to turning fellatio into physical comedy, that’s their own problem.

We’re getting closer and closer to the premiere of Chris Pratt‘s upcoming series The Terminal List and the official teaser trailer has been released!

Chris Pratt can’t quite remember what happened in his new Amazon Prime Video series, The Terminal List. But he’s got eight episodes to figure it out.

A new trailer for the gay romantic comedy “My Fake Boyfriend” dropped on Thursday and the movie, starring Kenyan Lonsdale, Dylan Sprouse and Sarah Hyland, promises a screwball look at modern dating with social media playing a major part.

Mavis Staples & Levon Helm, “Carry Me Home” (ANTI-Records)Some efforts to bring musical legends together feel contrived, like they were cooked up for a between-albums payoff. Occasionally, though, when the convergence isn't calculated, the moment just needs to be preserved.Such is the case with “Carry Me Home," a newly-released recording of a memorable encounter between Mavis Staples and Levon Helm during the summer of 2011.