Adam Shankman Opens Drag Comedy 'Stop! That! Train!' on June 12 After 19-Day Shoot
Updated
Updated · Variety · May 29
Adam Shankman Opens Drag Comedy 'Stop! That! Train!' on June 12 After 19-Day Shoot
3 articles · Updated · Variety · May 29
June 12 marks the theatrical debut of “Stop! That! Train!,” a comedy-disaster film Adam Shankman says was reshaped from an airplane spoof into a train-set farce to avoid simply remaking “Airplane.”
19 shooting days forced a fast, joke-driven production, with Shankman saying the script’s rapid-fire Zucker-style structure let the cast set up a gag, land it and move on.
RuPaul plays Madame President as the Glamazonian Express speeds toward a lightning-triggered “stormaganza,” while Ginger Minj and Jujubee’s stewardesses clash with an A-Squad led by Symone, Marcia Marcia Marcia and Brook Lynn Hytes.
Joel McHale, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jerry O’Connell, Lisa Rinna, Raven-Symoné, Michelle Visage and Jesse Tyler Ferguson are among the cameos packed into the film’s single main train set.
Shankman, a recent “Drag Race” guest judge, said he directed the queens to play the stakes dead seriously, pitching the movie as a revival of broad studio comedy with a drag-centered twist.
Can a star-studded cast playing 'dead serious' turn a disaster movie parody into comedy gold?
Can a film shot in only 19 days capture the comedic timing required to rival parody classics?
Will this film's 'waaay gay' humor connect with mainstream audiences or remain a niche queer classic?