Red, White & Royal Blue adaptation lands ‘R’ rating, and fans are more than ready
Taylor Zakhar Perez (L) and Nicholas Galitzine (R) will star in R-Rated Red, White and Royal Blue. (Taylor Zakhar Perez (L) and Nicholas Galitzine (R) will star in R-Rated Red, White and Royal Blue. (Instagram/@taylorzakharperez)
Amazon Prime’s highly anticipated adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s LGBTQ+ love story Red, White & Royal Blue will leave fans royally flushed after earning an R-rating.
It seems like only yesterday that McQuiston’s 2019 debut novel made its way into the world. Depicting a secret romance between two fictional characters, the son of the US president and a British prince, the love story quickly gained a large LGBTQ+ fan base and became an overnight Booktok sensation.
Naturally, fans were delighted when Amazon Prime announced that the bestseller would be brought to our screens.
The movie stars Nicholas Galitzine as third-in-line to the British throne, Prince Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, and Taylor Zakhar Perez as First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz, who cause an international scandal with their rivalry, friendship and forbidden cross-Atlantic love affair.
Directed by the Tony-award-winning playwright Matthew López, the movie also stars Hollywood legend Uma Thurman as the first female president, Ellen Claremont, and national treasure Stephen Fry, as the British monarch.
If all that wasn’t enough, fans have now been sent into a tailspin after the Motion Picture Association of America confirmed the adaptation would have an official R-rating for “language, some sexual content and partial nudity”.
In UK terms, that means under-17s should be accompanied by a parent or guardian. But, basically, it signals some steamy sex scenes.
For those familiar with the book, this will come as no surprise, given that the entire plot of the explicitly adult novel hinges on the very public sex scandal that unfolds around Henry and Alex’s torrid romance. McQuiston didn’t shy away from writing sex scenes between the two protagonists, and it looks as though the adaptation is going to stay faithful to the story.
Prime Video dropped the first look at the film’s poster last month, and it shows two people’s legs crossed together, with one person wearing Union flag socks and the other sporting a pair with a star-spangled-banner design. The tagline of the film is: “When love gets royally complicated.”
Along with the official rating confirmation, there has been plenty of excited reactions, as fans prepare for the movie, with many pointing out that the rating has been anticipated.
“People being shocked as if the plot isn’t literally about a sex scandal,” one said.
Another wrote: “Yes, there is no way to make an authentic adaptation of this book without it being rated R.”
And a third pointed out: Are people shocked? Them b*****s f****d every single time they saw each other.”
But mostly, everyone is just really, really excited for things to get raunchy on screen.
WAIT? I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE JUST SOME REGULAR CUTE ROMANCE STORY….
— Yosemite (@Swansong0110) May 7, 2023
OH IT’S MORE THAN THAT I SEE….
OOOOOOOOOOUUUUU CHILE IT’S GONNA BE WILD!!! pic.twitter.com/Wdilpqc1rq
Red White & Royal Blue is due to drop on Amazon Prime on 11 August.
