Ol Parker (“Journey to Heaven”) wrote the screenplay with George Clooney and Julia Roberts in mind and so won them over.

‘Journey to Paradise’ is born “for the cinema” and this is something that Ol Parker, his director and co-writer, wants to make a lot of clear. “It was shot in a spectacular and panoramic position, and we try to live up to the impossible beauty and glamor of our protagonists”, assures bragging about the stellar couple who direct this film. George Clooney and Julia Roberts are the undisputed blast a very representative proposal of its kind but with ambitions.

Parker explains this by making sure that while some romantic comedies may not think of a big screen, “Journey to Paradise” aspires to attract viewers to theaters, a place where many go only in search of an uncommon level of showmanship for this genre. “I think romantic comedies don’t necessarily provide the spectacle that cinema would require. I hope viewers continue to go to the cinema whenever they can, but I think they need a reason, they need it more than before and even more after. the pandemic. They are looking for something more, not just a good story, and I think some romantic comedies probably don’t have that ambition.”.

In fact, more and more films of this style they are committed to taking root directly on streaming platformsthat never cease to respond to the evident interest of viewers for a return of this type of film. “It looks like we are experiencing a renaissance [de la comedia romántica] and that would be great. Remembering something George said to me [Clooney] during the shoot, his favorite compliment, we opted for an ‘old school’ approach trying to recover the essence of the classics and replicating those films full of glamor. If audiences like it, the studios will go back to the genre, which I hope will happen because I love it. “.

no plan b

Ol Parker goes on to point out how lucky he feels to have convinced George Clooney and Julia Roberts to say yes to his film, revealing that he is relieved that he doesn’t have a plan B. “I wrote the script for them, in fact in the first draft their characters were called Julius and Georgia, which is maintained in the case of the character of Julia; and I sent it to both of them together, which is usually not done. In fact, in the first conversation with our producer, I already told him that it had to be them because of the background they add to the film. If you raise a divorced couple it really helps to think they were married, something that takes shape thanks to their thirty years of friendship.; And they also shared the screen five times, so we wanted to use that to our advantage. “.

“I sent it to both of them accompanied by a letter in which I explained that I had written it for them and that I thought they should do it together. It was something that imposed a lot on me, but I was lucky because they accepted”Parker says, revealing how he went through a casting process that Clooney himself had already given some details about. “The moment I read the script, I called Julia and said, ‘Did you get it? Will you?’ she asked me the same thing and I told her I would if she accepted the role too”. Of course, as Parker says, it’s fortunate that both of them were encouraged to join the project.

* Preview of “Journey to Paradise”. only in cinemas this Friday 9 September.