Today it was announced that Prime Video has acquired worldwide rights to Ricky Stanicky from Academy Award-winning director Peter Farrelly (Green Book, Something About Mary).
Additionally, Jermaine Fowler has joined the cast and will star alongside Zac Efron and John Cena. Ricky Stanicky, which marks a return to comedy for Farrelly, commences principal photography in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia this month.
Producers include Paul Currie (Hacksaw Ridge, Blacklight) via Footloose Productions, Thorsten Schumacher (Crimes of the Future, All Quiet on the Western Front) via Rocket Science, in association with John Jacobs (Ted, Blades of Glory) via Smart Entertainment. The script, written by Peter Farrelly, Brian Jarvis (Loudermilk), and Jim Freeman (Loudermilk), is based on an original spec by Jeff Bushnell (Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Zoey 101) and Steve Oedekerk (Bruce Almighty, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls).
In the film, three friends invent a character to use to get out of tricky predicaments, but they have to hire an actor to portray their fictional friend when their significant others become suspicious.
Fowler most recently starred in Hulu’s comedy The Drop. He also can be seen alongside Dakota Johnson in the comedy Am I Okay and had a breakout role in Prime Video’s smash hit Coming 2 America. Up next, Fowler can be seen starring in Lionsgate’s The Blackening. Previously, Fowler appeared in the critically acclaimed film from Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah. He also starred in and executive produced CBS’s Comedy Superior Donuts, and on the big screen, was seen opposite Lakeith Stanfield in 2018’s Sorry to Bother You. Additionally, Fowler previously co-created and starred in the truTV sketch-comedy series Friends of the People. Fowler is represented by UTA, Entertainment 360, and ID PR.
Efron was most recently seen starring opposite Russell Crowe in Apple TV+’s original film, The Greatest Beer Run Ever from director Peter Farrelly. Additionally, Efron will star in Sean Durkin’s drama The Iron Claw and opposite Nicole Kidman and Joey King in Richard LaGravenese’s Netflix romcom, A Family Affair. On the television side, Efron returned for a second season of the award-winning Netflix series, Down to Earth with Zac Efron: Down Under. In 2020, he was featured in the first season of Down to Earth with Zac Efron, for which he was awarded the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Program Host. Efron is represented by WME, Tory Torr, Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
Cena recently starred as Peacemaker in the No. 1 HBO Max Original series of the same name. His upcoming credits include the tenth main installment in the Fast & Furious franchise Fast X, Matthew Vaughn-helmed spy thriller Argylle, Warner Bros. live-action film Coyote v. Acme, and the sequel to Vacation Friends. Cena is represented by WME, Intenta Media, and JSSK.
Two-time Academy Award-winner Farrelly has made some of the most iconic comedies of all time, including Dumb and Dumber, Shallow Hal, Kingpin, Hall Pass, and There’s Something About Mary, with a combined global box office revenue of over $1 billion.
“We are excited to embark on this new project with comedy legend Peter Farrelly,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon and MGM Studios. “With Peter’s expertise and what are sure-to-be hilarious performances from our stellar cast led by Zac Efron, John Cena, and Jermaine Fowler, our Prime Video viewers around the world are in store for a bit of mischief and a lot of laughs.”
“I’m very grateful to Amazon, as well as Paul Currie, Thorsten Schumacher, and John Jacobs, for finally bringing Ricky Stanicky to life,” said director Peter Farrelly. “This has been a dream project of mine for many years but to end up with a cast this crazy good makes the wait more than worthwhile.”
The Amazon Original Movie will stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide at release. The production was attracted to Victoria through the Victorian Screen Incentive and the Regional Location Assistance Fund.
CAA Media Finance and Rocket Science brokered the deal with Prime Video on behalf of the filmmakers.
