Similar to how Disney is attaching the new trailers for two of its three 2017 Marvel Studios releases to another big-budget tentpole, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in theaters this month, Paramount Pictures is debuting the trailer for the Baywatch movie reboot this week with another of the studio's R-Rated raunchy comedies, Office Christmas Party on the big screen. This will allow Paramount to start beating the drum for its modern re-imagining of the 1980s/90s TV series of the same name, well ahead of its Memorial Day 2017 weekend launch.
Baywatch (2017) stars Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as Mitch Buchannon, the head honcho lifeguard at a Californian beach who, on the original TV series, was played by David Hasselhoff. 'The Hoff' himself will make an appearance in the film as a different character, along with another Baywatch TV show icon, Pamela Anderson. Meanwhile, Zac Efron costars in the film reboot as Matt Brody (played by David Charvet on the original Baywatch TV show): a blonde-haired doofus - through a ripped one - who clashes with the no-nonsense Mitch, when the duo are stuck working together.
The two teasers released for the full Baywatch trailer briefly highlight these differences in attitude (and intelligence) between Johnson and Efron's characters in the movie. To get a better feel for both these characters and their female costars - including, Johnson's San Andreas costar Alexandra Daddario, Quantico's Priyanka Chopra and Ilfenesh Hadera (Billions) - as well as the R-Rated tone of the film, you should check out the newly-released online Baywatch trailer, above.
The Baywatch trailer confirms much of what has previously been reported about the film reboot. That list includes: a story that revolves around "a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay" (as the movie's official synopsis puts it); that Efron's character is an Olympic medal-winning swimmer (in the vein of real-life Olympian Ryan Lochte) who joins Mitch's lifeguard team in order to do community service for his uncouth behavior; and that the reboot not only resembles 21 Jump Street in terms of tone, but also its origins (also being based on an '80s/'90s TV show) and its self-reflexive humor (see that joke in the trailer about the Baywatch "brand").
It remains to be seen if Johnson and Efron also have the same screen chemistry as Jump Street duo Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill - not to mention, if the screenplay from Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (Friday the 13th [2009]) and direction by Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) delivers anywhere near the level of humor and heart as the Jump Street movies have to date. The trailer for Baywatch certainly promises much in the way of tongue-in-cheek nods to elements of the original TV show (including, naturally, jokes about slow-mo running) and raunchy jokes alike; so if nothing else, Baywatch will hopefully deliver a couple hours of good silliness with The Rock and his friends.
Source: Paramount Pictures
