Ryan Reynolds and the ‘Gilmore Girls’ creator are coming together for an ‘Eloise’ remake
How often does it happen when two people from completely different pop-culture worlds randomly collide, and you just stand there and wonder which of these universes is doing a crossover episode? That is exactly what is happening here, because Ryan Reynolds, the master of meta and the king of irreverent comedy, is teaming up with Amy Sherman-Palladino, the absolute queen of fast-talking emotional devastation, for a Netflix adaptation of Eloise.
Yes, you heard that right. The plaza-dwelling, hotel-terrorising, pink-dress-wearing icon of mischievous childhood energy, aka Eloise.
This is not a joke, it is not a sketch, and it is not some forgotten SNL idea, but a full-fledged movie that is currently in production, with a cast that is giving prestige and a creative team that looks genius.
We are talking Sally Hawkins, Victor Garber, David Haig, Max Casella, and Isaac Bae and, at the centre of it all, a newcomer named Mae Schenk who is stepping into the very big shoes of Eloise herself. If you are already mentally picturing her spinning around the Plaza Hotel lobby with a trailing dog and a room service cart, you, my friend, are in the right direction.
Netflix is calling it a “wholly original adventure”, which basically means that only the concept is the same, and everything else will be brand new. And if anyone knows how to balance adorable mess with emotional whiplash, it is Sherman-Palladino. If you have watched Gilmore Girls or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, you know her dialogue can knock you over in three syllables, and you also know she loves characters who are difficult and dramatic, devastatingly funny, and secretly desperate for connection… which, let us face it, is exactly what Eloise has always been.
You take that, and you pair that with Reynolds, who has built an empire on making sarcasm feel sincere, and you get a combination that sounds way too good to be true, except it is not just true; it is already filming in London.
And if you are wondering whether this will be some watered-down, kid-friendly version with sparkly filters and moral lessons, pfft, you are about to be proven wrong big time. Netflix is already promising that this version will be bold and hilarious, which is a very specific set of adjectives, and coming from this particular set of people, probably means you are getting some tough emotions served under the disguise of a conventional Eloise.
Last but not least, the behind-the-scenes production is also filled with some brilliant minds out there. The writers panel, of course, includes Sherman-Palladino, and with her, we have Hannah Marks and The Lion King’s Linda Woolverton. Reynolds is producing under Maximum Effort, and MRC is backing the whole thing with the Thompson estate and original illustrator Hilary Knight involved. So yes, this is a remake, but it is going to be a lot more original than you think.
Eloise, once again, is ready to run the halls, so brace yourself.