14 DAY TRIAL // “Baywatch,” the cult television series that aired for a little more than a decade, is to become a big screen feature film that will be intentionally funny, that is to say, a comedy, MTV confirms. Writer Jeremy Garelick, who penned Jennifer Aniston’s “The Break-Up” and also did an uncredited re-write of this year’s box-office hit “The Hangover,” has been attached to the project and is already working on it.
Critics agree that the original series, made famous by slow-mo shots of female cast running along the beach and by the many beauties it included throughout the years, was charming and funny, without actually aiming to be so. The humor of “Baywatch,” they say, mostly derived from the bad acting in some cases and the unlikely situations presented, since the script wanted it to be more drama and action-focused. It now seems that the upcoming film will manage to be funny on purpose, given Garelick’s credentials.
Paramount, which owns the rights for “Baywatch,” approached the writer to do some re-write on an already existing script, Garelick reveals. However, the moment he saw the first pages, he realized that the film had a lot of potential of working as a comedy, which is why he immediately set out to make it so. Said and done, Garelick explains. “It felt like the template to do a movie that was similar to ‘Stripes’ and ‘Police Academy,’ the comedies I loved growing up. Rather than trying to pitch the tone, I figured it would be easier to write the first act to convey who these characters were.” Garelick says of the new turn of events.
According to Paramount, the story in the new film will focus on a pair of “unlikely lifeguard candidates trying to catch on alongside the buff bodies that will be as abundant in the film as they were in the TV series.” Since there was only so much action that the movie studio could infuse into the film, it seems the comedy approach actually stands pretty good chances of becoming a hit at the box-office and with the fans, several movie-oriented publications point out.
MTV, for one, is convinced that Garelick is the perfect candidate for the role, and that he can actually come up with a script that will blow our minds away. “If intentional comedy is in the cards for a theatrical adaptation of ‘Baywatch,’ Garelick represents an interesting choice. ‘The Break-Up’ is smartly written and even serves up some edgy comedy, but it is nothing approaching a gutbuster. Variety reveals that Garelick also delivered an uncredited re-write of ‘The Hangover’ script to Todd Philips; I hadn’t heard that before, but it certainly supports Garelick’s competence as a comedy writer.” MTV says.
It is not yet known whether the likes of Pamela Anderson or David Hasselhoff will be reprising their parts for a cameo appearance in the upcoming film. However, chances are they will do so, in an attempt from the studio to bring in as wide an audience as possible.