'Jackpot!' Exclusive Interview: Director Paul Feig

Moviefone speaks with director Paul Feig about 'Jackpot!' and working with Awkwafina and John Cena. "I was given this gift of these two thoroughbreds."

Premiering globally on Prime Video beginning August 15th is the new action-comedy ‘Jackpot!’, which was directed by Paul Feig (‘Bridesmaids’, ‘A Simple Favor’) and stars Awkwafina (‘The Little Mermaid’), John Cena (‘The Suicide Squad’), and Simu Liu (‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’).

Related Article: Director Paul Feig Talks Netflix’s ‘The School for Good and Evil’

'Jackpot!' director Paul Feig.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with acclaimed director Paul Feig about his work on ‘Jackpot!’, his first reaction to the screenplay, making a comedic version of ‘The Purge’, his casting process, working with Awkwafina and John Cena, and executing the action sequences.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.

(L to R) Director Paul Feig, John Cena, and Simu Liu in 'Jackpot!'. Credit: Image Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. Copyright: @ Amazon Content Services LLC.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and the themes you wanted to explore with this movie?

Paul Feig: I mean, the very first time I was told about the screenplay and sent it, I looked at the title page, it said, ‘Grand Theft Lotto’. I thought, this is stupid, and I put it down and didn't read it. Then it was my producing partner, Laura Fisher, who called me up and said, "I just read that script and it's super funny. You should read it." The minute, I got 40 pages in, it was just like, I must do this. Because I love physical comedy. Jackie Chan is a huge hero of mine. I've always wanted to make a Jackie Chan level physical action comedy. I like the message of it because even though on its surface it appears to be a very dystopian, sort of negative commentary on mankind, I find that it's not. I find that by the time you get to the end of the movie, you find out there's more people who would not participate in something as insane as this as there are. So, it's really Nora's world through this, she's only surrounded by the people who've chosen to join this lotto and kill her. But then by the end you learn, oh no, this is not most of the world. So, I think it's a very uplifting movie in the end.

(L to R) Murray Hill and Dolly De Leon in 'Jackpot!'. Credit: Image Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. Copyright: @ Amazon Content Services LLC.

MF: ‘Jackpot!’ is kind of like a comedic version of ‘The Purge’. Do you agree with that and is that what you were going for?

PF: You know what, yes. I completely buy into that. I keep saying it's ‘The Purge’ meets ‘It's a Mad, Mad World’. But the thing about ‘The Purge’ is, getting back to the point about the lottery, nobody in ‘The Purge’ has a choice about being in the purge. Everyone must be in the purge. The lotto, the Grand Lottery, you choose to be in it. So that's why I think we're not... I love ‘The Purge’ movies, they are some of my favorite movies, but they're dark.

(L to R) John Cena and Awkwafina in 'Jackpot!'. Credit: Image Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. Copyright: @ Amazon Content Services LLC.

MF: One thing that do exceedingly well as a filmmaker is casting. Can you talk about your casting process and working with Awkwafina and John Cena on this project?

PF: Because casting is 90% of my job. If I get that right, then everything else just falls into place behind it, if you do it right. But I was lucky enough with this movie, when the script came to me, Nora (Awkwafina) and John were already attached. So, I was given this gift of these two thoroughbreds. But again, you just don't know. They never worked together before. You're always kind of like, I hope these people have chemistry. But they just had it, just bucket loads of it. I found that the best people that I work with in this business, especially comedians, have a chemistry with each other, because they are like tennis players. They rely on the other person they're playing against. So, there's no ego between them because they know each one is making the other one look good, and they're making each other look good at the same time. But it was a joy to see that they had chemistry times ten.

(L to R) John Cena and Katie Awkwafina in 'Jackpot!'. Credit: Image Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. Copyright: @ Amazon Content Services LLC.

MF: Finally, what was it like shooting the action sequences and working with the fight choreographers?

PF: That's a dream come true. I love that stuff so much. But I also have a great stunt coordinator who I work with on this for the first time, who comes from the Marvel world and does all that serious fighting. But he, like myself, is a giant Jackie Chan fan. So, we were both, when we met, it was just like, we get to do all the stuff we've always wanted to do. So, he'd go off and work with his stunt team, and they would kind of film on their iPhones, these sequences, and then they'd bring it to me and I'm like, “Oh, we'll try this. Let's try that.” We'd get in there and it would like kids in a candy store. I'm like, "What if he ties her onto his back?" He's like, "Yeah, we can do that." So, we just plussed and plussed and plussed it all up.

Jackpot!

"Take the money and run."

R1 hr 47 minAug 15th, 2024

Watch Jackpot! Online

What is the plot of ‘Jackpot!”?

In the future, a ‘Grand Lottery’ has been newly established in California - the catch: kill the winner before sundown to legally claim their multi-billion-dollar jackpot. When Katie Kim (Awkwafina) moves to Los Angeles, she mistakenly finds herself with the winning ticket. Desperate to survive the hordes of jackpot hunters, she reluctantly joins forces with amateur lottery protection agent Noel Cassidy (John Cena) who will do everything in his power to get her to sundown in exchange for a piece of her prize. However, Noel must face off with his slick rival Louis Lewis (Simu Liu), who also seeks to collect Katie’s commission at all costs.