The newly minted Tony Award-winning writer of “The Inheritance,” Matthew López, is set to make his feature film directorial debut on “Red, White and Royal Blue,” a new, LGBTQ+-themed romantic comedy for Amazon Studios.
López also rewrote a draft of the screenplay adaptation based on the New York Times best selling romance novel by Casey McQuiston from 2019.
Lopez made history at the Tonys this past Sunday by becoming the first Latino writer to win Best Play, and this film will be a take on another Latiné character. “Red, White and Royal Blue” is an LGTBQ+ love story about Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the United States, and his relationship with Prince Henry, grandson of the Queen of England. Here’s the full synopsis:
What happens when America’s Prince falls in love with an actual prince? The film follows Alex Claremont-Diaz who, upon his mother’s election as President, was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, brilliant―his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a long- running fued with his royal counterpart across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows into something more meaningful than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could complicate his mother’s re-election campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all?
Producing “Red, White and Royal Blue” will be Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti/Schechter Films. Michael McGrath and López will also executive produce.
Matthew López’s play “The Inheritance” was directed by Stephen Daldry and was a two-part epic about the AIDS crisis that has been hailed as “the most important American play of the century.” It first originated in London in 2018 and opened on Braodway in fall 2019, and it will soon make its LA premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in 2022.
But López has been busy in the film and TV space of late. He’s writing an adaptation of the novel “Leading Men” for Searchlight Pictures that’s a story about Tennessee Williams and his longtime partner Frank Merlo, and he was also tasked with writing the remake of the Whitney Houston film “The Bodyguard” for Warner Bros. And in October of last year, he signed an overall TV development deal with Amazon Studios. Meanwhile on stage, he’s co-writing the musical adaptation of the classic film “Some Like It Hot.”
In addition to 2019’s “Red, White & Royal Blue,” McQuiston is the author of queer adult and young adult rom-com books, including “One Last Stop” and the forthcoming “I Kissed Shara Wheeler.”
López is represented by CAA, Grandview, and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman. McQuiston is represented by Sara Megibow of KT Literary and UTA.
Variety first reported the news.
