(Los Angeles) For a Disney production entitled The Princess (Princess), the latest film featuring young actress Joey King incorporates a lot of violence and death.
Posted yesterday at 10:03 a.m.
When the royal heroine sticks a hairpin in the eye of a villain, it becomes clear that the film produced by 20th Century studios – available in streaming from 1er July — is not your typical family fairy tale.
“It wouldn’t be funny if it wasn’t violent!” headliner Joey King told AFP on Thursday at the Hollywood premiere.
“I kept saying to our producer Toby (Jaffe, Ed): ‘There needs to be more blood on the dress!’ »
Described as a mixture of Rapunzel and the ultra-violent thriller The Raidthis live-action film begins when the princess played by Joey King wakes up, decked out in a wedding dress, imprisoned at the top of a high tower.
A series of highly choreographed fights ensue, as she tries to evade a slew of enemies, including former James Bond girl Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace).
The whole is more reminiscent Game Of Thrones that The Sleeping Beauty Where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
“The idea of doing a princess movie with Disney that goes against everything they’ve ever done was just perfect,” said Ben Lustig, who co-wrote the film.
The initial question was: “How to take the cliché of the princess stuck on top of a tower, that everyone knows, and totally turn it around?” »
The screenplay, written by him and Jake Thorton, was bought by 20th Century, a subsidiary of the Disney firm, and is released on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ internationally.
One of the producers is Derek Kolstad, creator of the films John Wick where Keanu Reeves plays a devastating hitman.
“The joke, at the start, was ‘What if Princess Peach saved herself, didn’t need Mario, and just beat Bowser up?’ “, explained Derek Kolstad in reference to the Nintendo game.
The film therefore takes the trend of fiercely independent Disney princesses a step further, but wanted to remain entertainment-oriented “without sounding too much like a podium,” he said.
“Crazy Idea”
Joey King explores new paths after the success of the saga for teens The Kissing Boothproduced by Netflix.
“It’s exhausting, it’s so hard on the body,” the 22-year-old actress said of the film’s many fight scenes.
“But there’s something so fulfilling and rewarding about it — I fell in love with the action scenes. »
The film was directed by Vietnamese Le-Van Kiet, whose martial arts thriller Fury (2019) exploded the counters.
“One of the first things I wanted was to do a butterfly kick” to Joey King, said the director of this spectacular blow. “A bit of a crazy idea, but the studio followed through and I’m glad they did! »
The American actress, in addition to acquiring new combat skills, was thus able to realize a dream.
“I am not a classic Disney princess. That’s what I love about this character,” she said.
“But I’m also thrilled to technically still be a Disney Princess!” »