Josh Duhamel was filming a scene in the new action-rom com “Shotgun Wedding” in which his fiancee, played by Jennifer Lopez, throws a grenade into the air. He hits it like a baseball into a bad guy that goes flying and creates a rainbow-colored fireworks display.
Duhamel said, “I was like, holy (offensive) this movie is bonkers.”
The Jason Moore-directed film begins like a regular romantic comedy. Lopez’s Darcy and Duhamel’s Tom are having a big destination wedding on an island. There are strange and awkward family dynamics and a charismatic ex-boyfriend also appears. And Darcy and Tom find themselves fighting and contemplating calling off the wedding moments before they walk down the aisle. Then a band of pirates armed with guns arrives and takes the wedding party hostage.
Lopez, who produced and starred in them, came across Mark Hammer’s script through her producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas – they’ve been making films together since “The Maid in Manhattan”.
“She’s a career architect,” Lopez said. “We really think about what we want to do, but what will the audience like or what the world needs at different times. Even as an artist, I try to make my albums and those things. I also do with whom I want to put in front of the world in the form of a message.
“Shotgun Wedding,” streaming Friday on Prime Video, was not a fun genre mash-up package, with Lopez liking the idea that her character was getting married for the first time at an “older age” and Tom “Groomzilla,” Obsessed with the details and logistics of planning a fetus.
She “takes apart things that people don’t think of as traditional and normal and makes that thing routine and acceptable.”
The film was not at all difficult for anyone involved. From Cheech Marin, who plays Darcy’s billionaire father, to jennifer coolidgeAs for Tom’s very typical Midwestern mom, everyone basically heard “Jennifer Lopez” and “Dominican Republic Shoot” and signed up.
“It was a funny script,” Coolidge said. “We had a table read in the beginning and I remember it being such a great table read. I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, this is going to be really fun.’
There was a hitch before they could reach the island. army hammer Tom was originally cast to play the role, but walked away from the project after allegations of misconduct surfaced, which he has denied. They were two weeks in preparation and needed a key role. Moore, A broadway Veteran, don’t panic.
Moore said, “There always comes a moment when a student has to move on.” “It always works. … ‘Oh boy’ had a few days and something even more wonderful came out of it.
Duhamel was on Moore’s shortlist and had been friendly with López for years.
Moore said, “He’s an incredibly handsome 1940s movie star who isn’t afraid to appear weak and silly.” Duhamel and Lopez spoke over Zoom and decided it was a go.
“You really need a certain kind of chemistry,” Lopez said. “It was not just romantic comedy chemistry. It’s more, you know, trusting each other and doing action and stunts and broad comedy as well. it was very.
“It was better than I thought it would be,” Lopez said. “We were absolutely on the same wavelength.”
Coolidge also approved.
“They’re a lot of fun to watch,” Coolidge said. “You know, you want to see everything… you want to see them together. You’re attracted to both people and then you see them, you know, attracted to each other.
But of course the pirates get in the way of some of them, and also promptly force the wedding guests to stand in a pool as their hostages while they search for the fighting bride and groom. Let’s try. It remained partially submerged in water for quite some time along with about a dozen others.
Coolidge said, “I’m probably not supposed to say it, but we didn’t change the water the whole time we were shooting.”
Darcy Carden, who plays Marin’s much younger girlfriend, said some 20 days were a bit humdrum.
Marin and Steve Coulter, who played Coolidge’s husband, sometimes napped next to each other in their soaking wet suits, of which Carden says he has photographic evidence.
But aside from the slimy shoes for two weeks, Carden said it’s “about as dreamy a situation as you can be in.”
Most of the cast also lived together in a huge house and went out together most nights, which created a family-like atmosphere on the set.
Duhamel said, “It was such a weird kind of movie dorm.” “But with a spa and a hot tub and a pool and a beach.”
lenny kravitzAs Darcy’s ex-boyfriend, even flies in (in a helicopter) to disrupt things.
Kravitz, a longtime friend of Lopez, said, “She’s an amplified kind of ridiculous version of, you know, a little bit of what people think of me.”
Moore wanted to make sure the film looked “big and James Bond and luxe”. Sometimes action rom coms can seem short,” he said.
And all were impressed with Lopez, who doesn’t play “movie star” on set. While filming scenes on a small boat out in open water one day, Lopez went into producer mode and decided she didn’t need an extra boat to hang out with her makeup person. She could do her own makeup. And he nailed it, Moore said.
“She’s a mogul and a producer and a storyteller, an actress, a singer and a terrific physical comedian,” Moore said. “She’s got discipline and she’s got artistic skill which is an amazing combo. She really can do everything.”
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Follow AP Film writer Lindsay Bahar: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.