The first trailer for MGM and Orion's Valley Girl remake is here ahead of the film's May digital release. The original Valley Girl was released in 1983 and starred Deborah Foreman and Nicholas Cage as a pair of star-crossed lovers living in Los Angeles, California. Valley Girl was a solid hit at the time and became something of a cult classic. The 2020 Valley Girl stars Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day), Josh Whitehouse, Chloe Bennet (Agents of SHIELD), Ashleigh Murray (Riverdale), Mae Whitman, Jessie Ennis, Camila Morrone, Logan Paul, Judy Greer, and Alicia Silverstone.
Directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg, this revamped Valley Girl is shown through the lens of a mother (Silverstone) telling her daughter (Morrone) the story of her first love. In '80s Los Angeles, Julie (Rothe) is a typical Valley girl who falls in love with a punk rocker from the Sunset Strip, Randy (Whitehouse). Their connection is instantaneous, but those around them question their relationship. Both the original Valley Girl and the remake are twists on Romeo and Juliet, but the remake does have one more trick up its sleeve: It's a jukebox musical, filled with '80s hits like "We Got the Beat" and "Take On Me."
Orion Pictures has officially unveiled the trailer for Valley Girl, as well as several first-look photos. It will be released on digital for audiences' home-viewing pleasure on May 8. You can see the trailer along with the pictures down below:
Similar to Trolls World Tour and Josh Trank's Capone, Valley Girl is another movie skipping a typical theatrical run to head right to digital/VOD. This mainly seems to be because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has closed movie theaters and sent most upcoming movies fleeing to different release dates. However, there is also one other element that could be contributing to Valley Girl's digital release: The presence of YouTube star Paul. Valley Girl was originally supposed to be released on June 29, 2018, but controversies surrounding Paul led to the film being pulled from MGM's release calendar. This trailer is the first bit of news to pop up for the film in a long time.
Despite its rocky road to to this point, Valley Girl looks like a fun update on a beloved cult classic. While the story is likely the same, the 2020 Valley Girl has managed to add two new elements (the mother-daughter subplot and musical numbers) to ensure it isn't a complete shot-for-shot remake of the original. It's also fun to note that it won't be the only Romeo and Juliet-inspired musical remake to arrive this year, as Steven Spielberg's West Side Story is awaiting release later on. Valley Girl gets to be first though, and it could provide excellent quarantine entertainment.
Source: Orion Pictures