ChristianNews
Will Packer is gearing up for the release of “Girls Trip” (which we’re praying goes #1 at the box office). The Atlanta based movie producer is sharing how he got big names like Jada Pinkett Smith, and Queen Latifah to commit to the movie. Packer also shares how he discovered comedian, Kevin Hart. Check it out
On casting Girls Trip:
With Girls Trip, Regina Hall hadn’t been in a role like this before, where the story is centered on her and her character, so I told her she should be in the anchor position in the ensemble. For Queen Latifah and Jada, that was very much about approaching them together to reunite, because they haven’t worked together since Set It Off 20-plus years ago. I approach casting not like a net you just throw out, but by approaching each individual talent one by one in the very specific way that is necessary to get that particular talent.
Packer on how he discovered comedian Kevin Hart:
My oldest son, who was a teenager at the time, him and his buddies were watching these Kevin Hart bootleg videos over and over again. I have a strict “no bootleg” policy in my house, and they were all like, “We don’t know where else to get them!” I go: “First of all, I am sure you can buy these movies somewhere, so that’s no excuse. Second, what the hell is this, and why are you guys watching it over and over again and laughing like it’s the first time you have ever seen it?”
Packer continued,
Kevin had a fan base that he was building among a demo that had a lot of his movies primarily on bootleg. The interesting thing about that is, you aren’t seeing those numbers in a quantifiable way, so it doesn’t translate to revenue, which is why a lot of people in L.A. weren’t aware. With both, they were hotter outside of L.A. than they were in L.A. The same thing was true of the Steve Harvey book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man that I produced the 2012 movie adaptation of. Before he was on the New York Times best-seller list and before he was doing Oprah interviews, his book was being passed around in beauty salons and nail shops.
Don’t forget to catch Girls Trip when it hits theaters July 21st
