If you’ve been to an uncle’s third wedding, you’ve probably heard “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).” And if you haven’t, your parents likely listened to it the night they conceived you. Well, as studios lick the pudding lid for any remaining IP that will light up the nostalgia centers of the last generation with disposable income, it seems Rupert Holmes’ Yacht Rock wannabe (FYI, the folks who coined the term “Yacht Rock” disavow it) is set to be adapted into a movie. A rom-com, of course.
According to Deadline, the film is currently in development at Alloy Entertainment, which has had a three-peat of successes with Work It, starring Sabrina Carpenter; Purple Hearts with Sofia Carson and Nicholas Galitzine; and Adam Sandler‘s You Are SO Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.
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“Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” was written by Rupert Holmes and is off of his fifth studio album Partners in Crime, which was released in September 1979. The song quickly rocketed up the charts and by December, it was the final #1 song of the ’70s. The song is a very linear story written from the point of view of a man who is bored in his current relationship and notices an ad in the personals section of the newspaper (like a website, only printed and delivered to your porch every day). The woman in the ad is seeking a man who, among other Hinge-esque simple pleasures, must like piña coladas, and the singer responds and arranges for them to meet.
Upon meeting, the singer realizes that the woman from the ad is actually his current partner, and rather than getting asked to leave the bar for a double infidelity fight, they both realize they have more in common than they thought. Two wrongs make a right and love wins the day!
“If you like piña coladas, and getting caught in the rain, if you’re not into yoga, if you have half a brain, if you like making love at midnight, in the dunes on the cape, then I’m the love that you’ve looked for, write to me and escape.”
The IP Drought
Hollywood, it seems, is in the middle of two droughts – a literal one, and a creative one. The premise of “Escape” is serviceable and could have appeared as the plot of any three-camera misunderstanding sitcom of the ’70s through the ’90s. Just picture Frasier Crane in this situation, with a Chateau Haut Brion ’61 instead of piña coladas. But as studios are getting more risk-averse, the reliance on established IP, no matter how thin, is reeking of desperation. And it seems even the auteur creatives and A24 set aren’t immune to the call of established IP. Even Robert Eggers of The Witch and The Lighthouse fame, is reportedly confirmed for a Labyrinth sequel. It makes one wish you could buy stock in the part of the brain that just recognizes things.
The film’s logline and more substantive plot details are still behind the curtain, but the romantic comedy is being executive produced by Holmes himself. The production team is currently searching for a writer for the project.
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