Judging by its title alone, A24’s maiden movie musical, F*cking Identical Twins, seems a far cry from The Parent Trap, the wholesome, white-bread Disney comedy that your grandparents enjoyed in 1961 (a PG version debuted in 1998).
In this R-rated incarnation, the comedy about a pair of twins trying to resuscitate their parents’ marriage is being described as a “subversive” take on the earlier Parent Trap offerings. Based on a 2014 stage production at New York’s Upright Citizens Brigad, F*cking will have original songs by Karl Saint Lucy and by its co-writers Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp.
F*cking Identical Twins tracks the comings and goings of two business rivals who discover they’re really twin brothers and switch places in hopes of reconciling their estranged parents. The film is being directed by Larry Charles, whose credits include Borat, Brüno, and The Dictator. Charles also served as a staff writer for Seinfeld, the classic TV sitcom. Already in production, the new musical flick will star Nathan Lane and hip-hopper Megan Thee Stallion, along with Bowen Yang and Megan Mullally.
The Grammy-winning Stallion, who coined the “hot girl summer” moniker, will be making her acting debut. Lane was most recently seen in Hulu’s mystery Only Murders in the Building and HBO’s historical drama The Gilded Age. Mullally, who played Karen Walker on Will and Grace, starred in Summering, a recent Sundance offering by James Ponsoldt. The Australian-born Yang hosts Las Culturistas, a comedy podcast, and is currently on the writing team of Saturday Night Live.
Chernin Entertainment will be producing F*cking Identical Twins and sharing financing with A24, which has global distribution rights. Based in New York City, A24 was started in 2012 as a vehicle for film and television production and film distribution.
It’s credited with distributing such titles as Spring Breakers. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Ex Machina, Room, and The Witch. As of 2019, films associated with A24 have garnered 25 Oscar nominations.
Its first Best Picture award came in 2017, for Moonlight.