David Faustino and Christina Applegate at the Premiere of “Vacation” held at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, CA, July 27, 2015. Photo © 2015 Joe Martinez/ Picturelux – All Rights Reserved.
The Griswolds are at it again in another ill-fated adventure. But this time, it is the next generation of Griswolds on the family road trip. And with that, the premiere of this sequel to the four previous theatrically released “Vacation” films was held at the Regency Theatre in Westwood Monday, July 27 (2015).
Walking the Red Carpet were the film’s stars including Ed Helms who plays a grown-up Rusty Griswold and Christina Applegate, Rusty’s wife Debbie. In a departure from the usual Griswold siblings, the rest of the Griswold family are played by two boys, Skyler Gisondo and Steel Stebbins, present on the carpet as well. Also at the Walley World themed event were cast members Chris Hemsworth, Catherine Missal, Elizabeth Gillies and none other than Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo – who reprise their roles as Mr. and Mrs. Griswold in the Vacation sequel.
Joining the stars were guests including Liam and Luke Hemsworth, Ethan Embry, Kate Flannery, Samm Levine, Perrey Reeves, Elsa Pataky and Alan Thicke among others.
In an fun turn of events, a TV show mini reunion of sorts ensued as David Faustino posed with his on-screen TV sister Christina Applegate. Much to the delight of the fans lining the street, Faustino and Applegate posed for the media, hugging and showing “familial” affection for one another having starred together in the hit TV show “Married With Children” for 11 seasons and a whopping 255 episodes (Faustino appeared in 256 episodes). Faustino mentioned on the carpet that Applegate and he are very close friends and that their families hang-out together whenever the occasion arises.
Interestingly, Ed Helms’ first reaction to starring in ‘Vacation’was ‘Hell no!’ This according to Fox News. Helms was reluctant to even touch the script and did not want to read it at all because of his notion that the original franchise is untouchable and shouldn’t be messed with.
“I think it was my manager who said, ‘Don’t be an idiot. At least read it,” says “The Hangover” star. “As soon as I realized this is not a remake, and I wasn’t going to be corrupting Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold, but rather inventing a new, adult Rusty Griswold, and all the characters are new, and the story is completely fresh, suddenly I was like, ‘Oh, this is fun. This is actually a fresh continuation of the Griswold mythology and not a corruption of what it is.'”
Helm’s goes on to say, “And then to learn that both Chase and Beverly D’Angelo were returning in cameos as Rusty’s parents, was the ultimate affirmation. They showed up with great, positive, collaborative energy, and it was huge. It meant a lot to all of us.”
About the film:
Following in his father’s footsteps and hoping for some much-needed family bonding, a grown-up Rusty Griswold (Helms) surprises his wife, Debbie (Applegate), and their two sons with a cross-country trip back to America’s “favorite family fun park,” Walley World.
The film marks Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley’s directorial debut. Goldstein & Daley (“Horrible Bosses,” “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2”) wrote the script, based on characters created by John Hughes. David Dobkin (“The Judge,” “Wedding Crashers”) and Chris Bender (“We’re the Millers,” “Horrible Bosses 2”) are producing, with Marc S. Fischer, Jeff Kleeman, Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Samuel J. Brown and Dave Neustadter serving as executive producers. The directors’ behind-the-scenes creative team also includes director of photography Barry Peterson (the “Jump Street” films, “We’re the Millers”), production designer Barry Robison (“Wedding Crashers,” “Pitch Perfect”), editor Jamie Gross and costume designer Debra McGuire (“Ted”). Music is by Mark Mothersbaugh.
“Vacation.” is set to hit theaters July 29, 2015, it will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment company.
For more information visit the official “Vacation” website.