A new star-studded comedy from Judd Apatow is spoofing the vapid self-importance of blockbuster movie stars amid a global pandemic with The Bubble.
Starring House of D‘s David Duchovny, The Mandalorian‘s Pedro Pascal, Key and Peele‘s Keegan-Michael Key, Knocked Up‘s Leslie Mann, and Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Karen Gillan, among many others, the film centers around a group of actors who are relegated to a pandemic bubble and stuck in a hotel while filming an action blockbuster as part of a franchise about flying dinosaurs.
Some of the early buzz surrounding the movie involved Netflix seemingly promoting a new star-studded blockbuster film, Cliff Beasts 6: The Battle for Everest – Memories of a Requiem, including a full-blown teaser trailer. However, this all turned out to be an epic early-April-fools-day troll as the fake film is the one the celebrities are filming within the movie The Bubble.
Netflix was going all out with the self-referential promotion on Twitter Thursday, even releasing posters and featurettes related to the Cliff Beasts franchise.
However, the streaming service finally pulled the veil off of everyone’s eyes Friday by releasing the real poster featuring the headlining heroes against a green screen backdrop, rather than on the cliffs of Everest among prehistoric beasts.
The film looks to be a welcome throwback to zany 2000s-era comedies, albeit with a timely pandemic plot element. The trailer reminds us of the Apatow-produced sendup of rock star biopics, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and of course the much-beloved Ben Stiller-directed satire of Hollywood stars’ vain motivations for making war films, Tropic Thunder.
The Bubble comes to Netflix April 1.