Raunchy comedies can be hit or miss in theaters, so when selling that kind of idea to a studio, it's especially important to have a good pitch. That's what Pitch Perfect trilogy writer Kay Cannon needed to worry about for her directorial debut, Blockers, which follows three parents trying their hardest to stop their daughters from losing their virginity on prom night. In order to sell Blockers while speaking with numerous studio executives, Cannon opted for a blunt and shocking approach: talking about her own daughter (who is four years old right now) one day engaging in a specific kind of sexual activity. As Cannon would say:
I just think about my daughter. And I think about how beautiful and wonderful she is, and then I think this terrible thing of how one day she'll have a cock in her mouth.
As Kay Cannon noted during her interview with The Cut, she sees Blockers as a "feminist project" in the same vein as the Pitch Perfect movies and Bridesmaids, the latter of which arguably kicked off the run of actress-led raunchy comedies upon its release in 2011. So to sell the movie to potentially interested parties, Cannon (who also created the short-lived Netflix series Girlboss) needed to ensure that the idea stuck in their minds for a while, hence why she decided to have them think about her own daughter with a cock in her mouth, which was undoubtedly unpleasant for her to conjure up in the first place. It's a wild approach, but nevertheless, it worked, because Blockers is co-produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. Let's hope, though, that Cannon doesn't need to take anywhere near the same kind of approach when she's selling future projects.
Blockers stars John Cena, Leslie Mann and Ike Barinholtz as the parents who are determined to stop their daughters from losing their virginity, while Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan and Gideon Adlon play the daughters in question. Judging by the trailers, there will be a lot of crazy moments in the movie beyond just the parents interfering in their children's social lives, which includes John Cena going nude and butt chugging beer. Blockers is also notable for being one of only three 2018 major motion pictures that are directed by women, the other two being Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time and Jennifer Yuh Nelson's The Darkest Minds. Cannon will also be only the sixth woman to direct a big budget R-rated comedy movie in film history.
Having already premiered at South by Southwest last month to positive reception, Blockers will be released in theaters this Friday, April 6. Stay tuned for CinemaBlend's review of the movie, and you find out what other cinematic content is arriving later this year by checking out our 2018 release schedule.
