Green Book directorPeter Farrelly sets his next film as an adaptation of Greatest Beer Run Ever. For years, Peter Farrelly, alongside his brother Bobby, have made their mark as the kings of gross-out comedy. To date their careers have seen the duo work with stars such as Jim Carrey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, and even Cher.
Having scored two of the biggest comedic hits of the 1990s with Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary, few could have predicted that it would be Peter Farrelly who would eventually go on to win two Oscars for his 2018 film, Green Book. And although the Farrelly brothers tackled a host of topics in their comedies that many would consider to be crass or immature, the general controversy their films elicited was nothing compared to what Green Book would eventually experience. Despite its fair share of praise and accolades, the film also faced allegations of taking creative liberties with a true story and promoting the sort of white-savior trope that has often been all too familiar in Hollywood’s lengthy history.
Now that the Oscars are well behind us for another year, many of the winners are busy getting their next projects in order. Farrelly is no exception, and Variety is reporting that the 62-year-old filmmaker will write and direct an adaptation of the book The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A True Story of Friendship Stronger Than War. Brian Currie and Pete Jones will also help write the script, having both previously worked with Farrelly on Green Book and 2011’s Hall Pass, respectively.
The true story behind The Greatest Beer Run Ever follows its protagonist and author, John “Chick” Donohue, who smuggled himself from New York City to Vietnam during the height of America’s invasion of Vietnam in 1967. The mission was simple: bring American beer, well wishes from home, and hopefully some laughs to the friends who were stuck fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. Donohue ended up getting caught in one of the largest military offensives of the entire war, the Tet Offensive, and was stuck in Saigon for months as a result before eventually getting home again. The story certainly sounds as though it has room for comedy, as well as drama, and has been announced at a time when another 2019 Oscar winner, Spike Lee, has also confirmed the Vietnam War as the subject of his next film.
Now that Farrelly has two Oscars to his name, it’s interesting to see him beginning to favor films that are in many ways the exact opposite of what he’s built his career on. It’s also interesting to see that his brother Bobby isn’t involved with this upcoming production, just as he wasn’t involved with Green Book. Whether this means that the two are taking a break from one another or perhaps something even deeper than that, the fact remains that the brothers haven’t made a film together since 2014’s Dumb and Dumber To. For those wanting to see something more from Peter Farrelly, this is great; but for Farrelly Brothers fans out there, it might be a tough pill to swallow.
