Taylor Zakhar Perez (The Kissing Booth 2 & 3, Minx) and Nicholas Galitzine (Cinderella, The Craft: Legacy) are set to star in Prime Video’s adaptation of Red, White & Royal Blue, based on Casey McQuiston’s New York Times and USA Today best-selling novel of the same name. Marking his feature directorial debut, Tony Award-winning playwright Matthew López (The Inheritance) will direct the film and adapt the script.
Clifton Collins Jr. (Westworld), Stephen Fry (The Dropout), and Sarah Shahi (Sex/Life) are also set to star. The cast also includes Rachel Hilson (Winning Time), Ellie Bamber (The Serpent), Aneesh Sheth (A Kid Like Jake), Polo Morin (Who Killed Sara?), Ahmed Elhaj (Dangerous Liaisons), and Akshay Khanna (Polite Society).
The film follows the Mexican-American character Alex Claremont-Diaz (Perez) who, upon his mother’s election as President, is 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 feud with his royal counterpart across the pond, Prince Henry (Galitzine).
When the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an altercation between the two, 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?
“It has been a thrill to hand this story over to Berlanti/Schechter, Amazon, and our fearless leader Matthew López and watch them make so many smart, bold, thoughtful choices to bring it to life,” said McQuiston. “This casting is no exception. I absolutely can’t wait to see Taylor and Nicholas on screen as Alex and Henry.”
“Meeting with and auditioning literally hundreds of actors over these past several months has been a painstaking labor of love that has brought us this diverse and extraordinary cast, led so fantastically by Nick and Taylor,” said López. “I cannot wait for the fans of the book (and indeed for the world) to find out how remarkably gifted and perfect these two actors are for bringing Henry and Alex to life.”
Berlanti/Schechter Films’ Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter will produce the film, with Michael McGrath executive producing. López and McQuiston will also executive produce. Ted Malawer previously penned a draft of the script.
