With 2024 marking 30 years of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Guy Pearce has shared his thoughts on what he wants to see β and wants to avoid β in the sequel to the Australian drag classic.
After the famous bus was discovered abandoned in New South Wales, Priscilla writer and director Stephan Elliott confirmed a Priscilla sequel was in development, with the original cast – β Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving and Terence Stamp β returning for the new film, set both in Australia as well as overseas.
Guy, who played Adam Whitely/Felicia Jollygoodfellow in the film, said: βIβve got to be honest. I donβt even know what to expect from it myself, because weβre at a very early stage.
βWe have spoken and sort of said, βLook, Iβd be up for it, Hugo would be up for it, and Terrence would be up for it.β
βWe all agree that it would need to be something equally [great]. I mean, itβs hard to suggest you could make something better than the original film, but to make something that really feels like itβs a credible revisit. Thatβs all I would want.β
In April, Stephan Elliott gave his perspective on the Priscilla sequel, saying that in an era of drag bans and Trumpian politics, now was a βperfectβ time for the follow-up.
βYou have to remember that Tick had a kid, now that kid has grown up and heβs got his own family,β he told The Guardian.
βI donβt want to repeat myself, so itβs taken me a long while to come up with somethingβ¦ Thereβs something that needs to be said about tolerance.β
Guy added: βMy great fear is that the legacy and the memory of the first one is tarnished by us silly bastards attempting to do something again, and it falls flat.
βThereβs a lot of sequels these days, but for something thatβs unique and special for its timeβ¦ I think we would have an element in our favour, and time is that element.
βHow have these characters [evolved]? How are they now, 30 years on? What are they up to?
βI do think thereβs something different about doing a sequel 30 years on than doing one two years later, just because the first one was really popular.
βYou jump back into something quickly and everyone goes, βOh, they shouldβve left it alone.β
βI think thatβs what people say about Grease and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, you know? So, Iβm excited at the idea, but as long as itβs good.β
Guy said he trusted Stephan Elliott to not mess up the sequel, saying: βI can guarantee you that as Stephan Elliot is the writer/creator of this, anything that was popular in the first oneβ¦ will be back with bells on.
βBut the 2024/25-whatever version of it will reappear.
βStephan loves to shock, and heβs well aware, more so than I am, of what worked in the first one.
βOf course, obviously thereβs been the stage show. So heβll create something especially that all the diehard fans will go, βThatβs what weβre looking for!ββ
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