The first trailer for Jo Koy’s “Easter Sunday” has been published by Universal and Dreamworks. The comedy is structured around a true story of a family gathering to celebrate Easter Sunday, and it stars the comedian in his debut feature film role. At CinemaCon, the trailer appeared for the first time.
The film, which premieres on August 5, is a love letter to the Filipino community and the first studio picture to have an all Filipino cast. Along with Koy, who goes home for an Easter week of eating, laughing, drinking, and raucous fun, Jimmy O. Yang, Tia Carrere, Brandon Wardell, Tony nominee Eva Noblezada, Lydia Gaston, Asif Ali, Rodney To, Eugene Cordero, Jay Chandrasekhar, Tiffany Haddish, and Lou Diamond Phillips star.
The clip depicts Koy’s on-screen mother commenting on how he should have been a lawyer, demonstrating how he pulls from both personal experience and his standup comedy performance. In honor of Filipino-American boxer Manny Pacquiao’s birthday, another family moment illustrates how they all have the same ATM pin number.
DreamWorks and Amblin are collaborating on the project. Universal Pictures will release the picture in the United States. International distribution rights will be split between Amblin Partners and Universal.
Jay Chandrasekhar directed the film, which was written by Ken Cheng. Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich of Rideback are producing the film. Koy, Jessica Gao, Yang, Cheng, Joe Meloche, Nick Reynolds, and Seth William Meier serve as executive producers for “Easter Sunday.”
Is “Easter Sunday” based on a true story?
Jo Koy has created a reputation for himself as a stand-up comedian by narrating wild-yet-relatable anecdotes about his quirky family over the course of a nearly 30-year career. So it’s only natural that when Koy decided to make the leap to the big screen, he carried his family with him – at least in spirit.
Easter Sunday, a personal, absurd love letter to Koy’s Filipino-American community that conveys the sweet-natured irreverence of his stand-up specials to a larger audience, marks Koy’s leading man debut. If you’ve seen Koy’s humor before, you’ll know how he can turn his deep affection and full perplexity for his family life into funny, bizarre tales.
Easter Sunday revolves around a fictionalized version of Koy, who goes home to his supporting yet demanding family to attend Easter festivities, as shown in the first trailer. There’s a lot of arguing, shouting, eating, drinking, laughing, and love that follows. Aside from that, there are a few more harmful activities to be aware of. Though the teaser doesn’t shy away from some of the more raucous story developments that will follow, Easter Sunday’s trailer focuses on the focused comedy of Koy’s well-known stand-up act, which should make it an easy sell for those who have followed the comic’s career over the years.
Easter Sunday also stars Lydia Gaston, Tia Carrere, Brandon Wardell, Eva Noblezada, Asif Ali, Rodney To, Jimmy O. Yang, Eugene Cordero, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Tiffany Haddish, but it’s really about Koy taking a giant stride forward. Despite having made many hour-long stand-up specials and doing innumerable stand-up tours throughout the years, Koy has remained on stage throughout his career. He’s had a few acting appearances, including a recent cameo role on Netflix’s Mr. Iglesias series. Surprisingly, Koy’s past film roles can be counted on one hand.
Of course, with his future part in Netflix’s The Monkey King, as well as this new comedy, that might all change shortly. Of course, Koy has the advantage of knowing that he has one great director on his side: Steven Spielberg.
During a recent visit at CinemaCon to promote Easter Sunday, Koy stated that Spielberg was the one who got the film off the ground. Koy’s 2019 Netflix stand-up special, Jo Koy: Comin’ in Hot, piqued the filmmaker’s interest, and he wanted to discover more about the comedian’s familial dynamic. It certainly helps to have high-ranking supporters, and if this film does well, it may herald the start of an exciting, vibrant new chapter in Koy’s ever-evolving career.
Easter Sunday, directed by Jay Chandrasekhar (Super Troopers 1 & 2), who also stars in a supporting role, will be released in theaters on August 5th.