The first trailer for Peter Farrelly’s “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” proudly proclaims that the guy in the film played by Zac Efron “actually did this” as he sprints through an active war zone in Vietnam carrying a sack of cold brews and cheap American lagers.
“The Greatest Beer Run” ever is based on the true story of a man named Chickie Donohue, who felt burned by the protests at home over the Vietnam War and decided he wanted to show his support to his buddies and neighbors overseas by tracking each of them down in Vietnam and bringing them each a beer. And yes, you can tell he’s serious about that plan.
“The man’s stoned sober. That’s maybe his fifth beer, tops,” a bartender played by Bill Murray says in the trailer.
The film is a coming-of-age story for Efron’s character, a lazy Boston boy who doesn’t truly understand the gravity and complexity of this controversial war and frequently runs into friends who explain to him that this isn’t some joke to them.
“The Greatest Beer Run Ever” is Farrelly’s follow-up to the Best Picture winner “Green Book,” and Apple TV+ is releasing the film first with a premiere at Toronto in the hopes that this true story can inspire audiences the way Farrelly’s last film did.
Farrelly co-wrote the script with Brian Currie and Pete Jones based on the book “The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty and War” by Joanna Molloy and the real John “Chickie” Donohue, whose book was a New York Times best seller in 2020.
Starring alongside Efron in the film are Russell Crowe, Jake Picking, Will Ropp, Archie Renaux, Kyle Allen, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis and Bill Murray. The film hails from Skydance Media and producers David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger on behalf of Skydance, with Andrew Muscato and Jake Myers.
“The Greatest Beer Run Ever” will debut in theaters and on Apple TV+ on Sept. 30 following its world premiere at TIFF. Check out the first trailer above.
