You've got to hand it to Universal Pictures. They've had a string of bombs, or pictures that severely underperformed in the last two years -- "Public Enemies," "Funny People," "Brüno," "Green Zone," "The Wolfman," etc. -- and still they have the balls to greenlight something like David Gordon Green's upcoming medieval stoner film, "Your Highness" which sounds like it might be the most balls-out, craziest mainstream studio film we've seen in some time (or at least since "Brüno," which ended up being a lot tamer than we envisioned).The picture stars James Franco, Danny McBride, Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman and Justin Theroux in a bizarre, fantasy movie about an arrogant, lazy prince (McBride) and his more heroic brother (Franco) who must complete a quest in order to save their father's kingdom.
In the past, Green and McBride have called the film a mix of "Krull" (the oddest film the venerable Peter Yates ever directed) and "Barry Lyndon" and right there, that hilarious and strange concoction demands you buy a ticket. Anyhow, the film will be appearing at New York Comic Con next weekend so Universal is unveiling promo and production photos (via Hitfix and Hitfix) from the film and giving thego ahead to publish various set visits from the film that took place last year in Ireland where the film was shot (more photos below)From all accounts it's a pretty nutty film and most of the principal cast are surprised with what they got away with. "We just locked 'Your Highness,' Danny McBride recently said in an A/V Club interview. "David and I watched that and looked at each other and said, “I can’t believe people are letting us do some of the stuff we’re doing.” [Laughs.] I don’t know if I would."
Zooey Deschanel also extolled its filthy virtues recently and yes, it's R-Rated. "[It's] the dirtiest medieval comedy you will ever see," she said. "I will guarantee you that. Oh my God, it’s ridiculously dirty. I mean, it’s like the most dirty humor that you could possibly come up with."
At SXSW, Green called the film a "tough shoot" and "by far the most expensive movie, by about double anything I’ve ever done. There was huge special effects, it’s just got so many different elements working [at once]." He also noted that English actors like the great Charles Dance thought they were off their rocker when making the film which bodes well for its levels of absurdity. "We had these amazing British thespians that have worked on the stage of London who thought we were fucking retarded."Additionally, while "Your Highness" was delayed and was supposed to hit theaters this October originally, the picture was shot for a more modest $45-ish million so Uni will have less worries on return (though the additional time they've spent in the editing room and on effects has probably added up). The picture is set for a April 8, 2011 release date and you should be hearing a full Playlist report from NYCC next weekend.
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