Paul Feig reveals Jackpot! is a 'friendship story' between Awkwafina and 'nicest guy in the world' John Cena

Virgin Radio

5 Aug 2024, 14:32

Bridesmaids’ director Paul Feig is back with a new action comedy, starring Awkwafina and John Cena.

The acclaimed American filmmaker, producer, screenwriter and actor joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show ahead of the release of his new film, Jackpot!, which is available to watch from next Thursday 15th August on Prime Video.

Speaking to Angela Scanlon, who is hosting for a couple of weeks while Chris is on his summer holiday, Paul said of his new project: “It’s a little Black Mirror… but much sillier.”

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Explaining the premise, the director said: “About six years in the future, in California, there is a lottery called the Grand Lottery, and if you buy a ticket and you win, everybody who has a losing ticket has until sundown to kill you, legally, and take your prize. So into this world comes our friend Awkwafina, playing Katie Kim, and she accidentally wins the lottery. She has an Airbnb host, and she borrows her pants and the lottery ticket’s in there, and she registers it, and so suddenly the whole world's trying to kill her. And John Cena is an amateur lottery protector who basically will protect you, get you to sundown for ten percent of your commission.”

He continued: “It's an action comedy at its heart, but it's sort of a dystopian comedy. I probably wouldn't have done the movie had it allowed people to use guns, but that's the one rule in the Grand Lottery, you can't use guns. And so then I just went, ‘This is just a big Jackie Chan movie’, because, literally, she's fighting off all these people and doesn't know what's happening, what's going on.”

Speaking about John Cena’s role, the director said: “That's what I loved about this, is that this is not like a testosterone movie. His character is this lovely guy who just wants to keep her safe. You're not sure if you trust him or not, but John Cena is the nicest guy in the world. He really is just a gentle, gentle giant and really smart too.

Regarding the dynamic between Jackpot!’s two main characters, the filmmaker said: “We really wanted it to be a friendship story, because I thought it was really sweet, and you don't see a lot of those, there always has to be a romance. And this just felt like they’re kind of buddies in this. But her character has a lot of trust issues, and so that's her big thing she has to hurdle over.”

He continued: “I'm not a pessimist, I love the human race, and I'm very optimistic about people. And you kind of find through the movie, there are people trying to kill her who want the prize, but then all the people who don't buy tickets, who aren't playing it, they're the ones who want to save her. So I feel there's more people, more good people, in the world.”

The original title of the film was Grand Death Lotto. Paul explained: “We got a lot of cease and desist from the Grand Theft Auto video game people, and then I said, ‘Well, let's just change it to Grand Death Lotto,’ and they still said they were gonna sue us, because, God knows, we don't want to besmirch the good name of Grand Theft Auto, a game where you beat up all people!” 

Paul has also helmed movies such as The Heat, Spy, and Ghostbusters and A Simple Favor, as well as having created the comedy series Freaks and Geeks and directed several episodes of Arrested Development, Nurse Jackie, Mad Men, The Office, Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock.

During his chat with Angela, the filmmaker spoke about the chances of a sequel to Bridesmaids. Read about it here.

Jackpot! is out Thursday 15th August On Prime Video.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.