Introduction

The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a 2022 American biographical action comedy film co-written and directed by Peter Farrelly based on the book of the same name by Joanna Molloy and John “Chickie” Donohue. The film stars Zac Efron, Russell Crowe and Bill Murray.

Outline

In 1967, John Donohue was a 26-year-old US Marine Corps veteran working as a merchant seaman when he was challenged one night in a New York City bar. The men gathered had lost family and friends in the ongoing war in Vietnam. One friend proposed an idea many might deem preposterous: one of them should sneak into Vietnam, track down their buddies in combat, and give each of them messages of support from back home, maybe some laughs, and beer.

Cast

• Zac Efron as John “Chickie” Donohue.
• Russell Crowe as Arthur Coates.
• Bill Murray as The Colonel.
• Jake Picking as Rick Duggan.
• Will Ropp as Kevin McLoone.
• Archie Renaux as Tommy Collins.
• Kyle Allen as Bobby Pappas.
• Ruby Ashbourne Serkis as Christine.
• Matt Cook as Lieutenant Habershaw.
• Omari K. Chancellor as Erickson.
• Will Hochman as Tommy Minogue.
• Goya Robles as Almeida.
• Kevin K. Tran as Hieu ‘Oklahoma’.

Production

In 2015, Andrew Muscato produced and directed a short documentary “The Greatest Beer Run Ever”. The short was released on the Pabst Blue Ribbon Youtube Channel on Veterans Day 11 November 2015.

On 26 April 2019, as soon as Skydance Media picked up the rights to adapt the book The Greatest Beer Run Ever to film, Peter Farrelly came on board to write the script with Brian Currie and Pete Jones as well as direct the movie. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger would produce for Skydance along with Andrew Muscato. Viggo Mortensen was cast in the film, with Dylan O’Brien joining him soon after.

In March 2021, the film was picked up by Apple TV+, with Mortensen and O’Brien no longer involved. Zac Efron and Russell Crowe entered negotiations to join the cast to replace O’Brien and Mortensen with Bill Murray courted for a supporting role. Efron and Crowe were confirmed to join the cast in July 2021. Filming was expected at the time to begin in August 2021, either in Australia or New Zealand. Jake Picking, Will Ropp, Archie Renaux and Kyle Allen were cast in September 2021. Murray would be confirmed in October, with Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, Matt Cook, Omari K. Chancellor and Will Hochman joining the next month.

Filming began in September 2021, and would shoot between Thailand and New Jersey.

Release

It had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September 2022, and was released in select theatres and on Apple TV+ on 30 September 2022.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s):
  • Peter Farrelly.
• Producer(s):
  • Oliver Ackermann … Thailand line producer.
  • David Ellison … producer.
  • Brett Glatman … associate producer.
  • Dana Goldberg … producer.
  • Don Granger … producer.
  • Chris Lowenstein … supervising producer.
  • Andrew Muscato … producer.
  • Jake Myers … producer.
  • J.B. Rogers … co-producer.
  • Joe Russo … associate producer.
• Writer(s):
  • Brian Hayes Currie.
  • Peter Farrelly.
  • Pete Jones.
• Music:
  • Dave Palmer.
• Cinematography:
  • Sean Porter.
• Editor(s):
  • Patrick J. Don Vito.
• Production:
  • Living Films.
  • Skydance Media.
• Distributor(s):
  • Apple TV+ (2022) (World-wide) (video) (VOD).
• Release Date: 13 September 2022 (Toronto International Film Festival, Canada) and 20 September 2022 (Internet).
• Rating: R.
• Running Time: 126 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

Video Link(s)