Red, White & Royal Blue Release Date, Cast, Trailer, Plot And More Details
In a summer of blockbusters like "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning," and "Barbie," it could be easy to overlook a smaller streaming gem released in the midst of big-screen heavy hitters. However, Amazon Studios isn't sitting idly by as it has its own slate of releases, including its newest film, "Red, White & Royal Blue," scheduled to hit the streaming waves this summer.
Based on a bestselling novel by author Casey McQuiston, the film is an LGBTQIA+ romantic comedy that follows the classic storyline of enemies becoming lovers. However, this time around, it's a bit more complicated as one of the romantic leads just so happens to be part of the royal family. Needless to say, that leads to all sorts of political intrigue complicating the romance, but when exactly will all those sparks start flying? And who exactly will play the two leads? Well, read on for everything you need to know about "Red, White & Royal Blue."
When will Red, White & Royal Blue release?
The process that brings the movie to the screen took predictable steps as it found its director in October of 2021, who also began writing the script. Then the film started shooting several months later, in June of 2022, and went through the summer, wrapping in August.
One of the stars of "Red, White & Royal Blue" took to Instagram and shared the first poster for the film with the caption, "Ready to make some history?" The poster sees both male leads sitting on a couch with their legs crossed towards each other and the hem of their pants lifting to reveal socks bearing an American flag for one and the Union Jack flag for the other. The tagline reads, "Love gets royally complicated."
Finally, the very bottom of the poster reveals the release date of August 11th. Set your calendars for the second week of August if you don't want to miss this adaptation hit the screen on Amazon Prime.
What is the plot of Red, White & Royal Blue?
The film will follow the rivalry between the first son of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz, and Prince Henry of the English Royal Family. The story begins with a royal wedding that sees the two longtime rivals get into a physical altercation. It ends with them landing on the wedding cake and blasting the media with headlines of rising tensions between the two nations.
Following this incident, the first female President of the United States forces her son to spend time with the prince to show the world that they are good friends and can get along, easing the tensions and avoiding an upending of relations between the two nations. All of this happens during her reelection campaign, where she is trying to avoid her opponents using it as ammunition in their own campaigns. The fake friendship turns into something more as the two rivals begin to develop feelings for each other, and an unlikely love story begins to take shape.
Who stars in Red, White & Royal Blue?
The two leading men are played by Taylor Zakhar Perez ("Scandal," "The Kissing Booth 2") as United States First Son, Alex Claremont-Diaz, and Nicholas Galitzine ("Chambers," "Cinderella") as Prince Henry. In an interview with GQ, Perez explains that he took inspiration for his character from "The West Wing," saying that Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) is the kind of man he would want to be. Galitzine confessed that he related to Prince Henry, saying, "One of my great fears is being misunderstood. Henry has to live with that every day. It just felt like a beautiful story: someone who's largely pretended to be someone else their whole life, and then this other person completely obliterates their worldview."
Two other notable actors appearing in the film are Uma Thurman ("Pulp Fiction," "Kill Bill: Vol 1 & 2") and Sarah Shahi ("Black Adam," "Chicago Fire"). Thurman signed on to portray the country's first female president, Ellen Claremont, who is navigating the stresses of being a mother and running for reelection. Shahi plays Zahra Bankston, Claremont's Chief of Staff, who must find ways to spin the incident at the royal wedding and run Claremont's reelection efforts.
Other notable appearances are from Clifton Collins Jr. ("Star Trek," "Boondock Saints: All Saints Day"), Stephen Fry ("Gosford Park," "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"), Ellie Bamber ("Willow," "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms") as Prince Henry's sister and Donald Sage Mackay ("Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan," "Wreck") as Claremont's political rival.
Who is directing Red, White & Royal Blue?
"Red, White & Royal Blue" is the directorial debut of Matthew Lopez. However, helming a film that explores the gay community isn't completely out of his realm as he became the first Latine playwright to win a Tony Award for Best Play for his writing credit on "The Inheritance." The play explored New York's gay community a generation after the AIDS crisis and was loosely based on the 1910 novel "Howards End" by E. M. Forster.
Even though he wasn't new to the delicate subject matter, that didn't mean he didn't have struggles on set, as he told Glamour that the cake scene was the most difficult three days of shooting. "It was a huge scene with hundreds of extras in a grand ballroom and huge dresses and a seven-foot high wedding cake and stunts and lots and lots of frosting. It was also fairly early in the shooting schedule, so I was still a fairly unpracticed director at the time. I wasn't unpracticed at the end of it."
Even though he is new to directing, he is prepared to get deep in the industry as a writer as he not only penned this film in addition to directing but is also set to write a remake of "The Bodyguard" (Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston) for Warner Bros., a remake of "Some Like it Hot," and "Leading Men" about Tennessee Williams and Frank Merlo.
Is Red, White & Royal Blue based on a book?
The film is based on a novel of the same name by Casey McQuiston. It was released in 2019 and went on to win major awards from Vogue Magazine, New York Public Library, NPR, and Library Journal. It also shot to the New York Times and USA Today's Bestseller lists. In a 2019 interview with She Reads, McQuiston reveals her inspiration behind the book. While she was initially inspired when obsessively following the 2016 Presidential election, she also found inspiration elsewhere.
"That spring, I was also watching a new season of 'Veep' and alternating between reading a dense Hillary Clinton biography by Carl Bernstein and 'The Royal We' by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan." She continued about why she chose the characters she chose. "So I knew I wanted to do a first family story or a royal family story. And then I realized – if I had a member of the first family fall in love with a member of the royal family, I didn't have to pick just one!"
She is also the author of two more LGBTQIA+ novels, "I Kissed Shara Wheeler" and "One Last Stop." However, you can see her share her excitement about the film adaptation of her debut success on her Instagram.
Is there a trailer for Red, White & Royal Blue?
The trailer for "Red, White & Royal Blue" dropped on July 6. It's a delightful tour through Alex and Henry's worlds, responsibilities, and, of course, their relationship. Their early friction looks to be uproariously captured by this film, especially the infamous "buttercream summit." But as they're forced together by their respective countries' needs, their enmity begins to fade. Soon enough, they're spending comfortable time together — and soon after that, they're forced to realize their feelings have deepened into something really and truly romantic.
Every actor looks to be in top form in this film, from Uma Thurman at her twangiest to Nicholas Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar Perez as the story's central lovers. The jokes are fresh, the romance is sparkling, and the politics are as complex as they are fascinating. If this trailer is anything to go by, "Red, White & Royal Blue" will be a genuine joy.
What will Red, White & Royal Blue be rated?
"Red, White & Royal Blue" is rated R. This might come as a surprise to fans — this is, after all, a fairly frothy romantic comedy with a unique tinge of fairy tale-ish wonder, what with the literal prince at the heart of the story. It's not a Disney film, of course, being about grown adults who embark upon an adult relationship. But still, an R rating comes as a slight shock. If you agree, you're not alone: The film's director, Matthew Lopez, has also expressed surprise over this rating.
In conversation with People, Lopez remarked, "I think I was a little surprised at the R rating just because, while I never was encouraged to limit what we were showing or limit what I was depicting, the [love scene] is what I intended to show. It plays exactly how I wanted it to play." He continued, "But I do question whether or not if it had been a man and a woman, if we'd still gotten an R rating." We'll probably never know the answer to this question, but it's definitely worth asking.