The world of community theater is ripe for the mockumentary genre; Waiting For Guffman is obviously the most famous example, but even Drop Dead Gorgeous and Best In Show focus on small-town folks who are aching for their big moment on some kind of stage. Today, a new challenger approaches: The Premiere, a new mockumentary from by directors Christopher Bouckoms and Sam Pezzullo and distributed by Tribeca Films.
Pezzullo also stars in the film as himself, which purports to document his attempt to turn the beloved slasher flick Scream into a stage musical in the Hamptons. “Along the way, he clashes with quirky characters played by real-life Hamptons locals, to awkward and outrageous results,” reads a logline of The Premiere. “Drawing inspiration from cringe comedy classics and crafted largely through improvisation, The Premiere is a keen satire about the Hamptons with a biting love letter to the community at its core.”
The trailer, shared publicly today, contains all of the classic ingredients we might expect from such a topic: a narcissistic and delusional director, actors who only sort of look like the characters they’re meant to portray, a ticking clock and a diminishing budget. Of course, the Scream franchise itself has been gleefully meta from its debut in 1996, first parodying horror movie tropes before moving on to Hollywood at large in its sequels. If there was ever a popular movie that would serve a good basis for a musical mockumentary, Scream is it. Whether the cast of The Premiere is able to pull it off is another story. You can decide whether they do for yourself when The Premiere becomes available on demand on August 19.
