Fantasy Island, directed by Jeff Wadlow, is a movie adaptation of a spooky ’70s TV series. In the film, just like in the classic TV series, a nefarious Mr. Roarke (Michael Pena) invites guests (including Lucy Hale) to his tropical island and then turns their fantasies against them. Producer Jason Blum, 50, explained EXCLUSIVELY to HollywoodLife at the L.A. premiere on Feb. 11, why he wanted to reboot the classic TV show. “I loved the show when I was a kid and I was always kind of creeped out by the show and the notion of taking a show and flirting with horror and scary, which is what the TV show does, and then just leaning right into it and making a super scary version of Fantasy Island was very interesting. And that’s why we made the movie.”
The founder of Blumhouse studios is arguably the king of scary movies. And he admitted to us that he’s to blame for plenty of nightmares, having already brought us classics like 2018’s Halloween, Paranormal Activity and The Purge. “I have nightmares every night, ask my wife. I mean how could I not have nightmares, all I do is make other people have nightmares so it’s only fair that I have them myself.”
There are plenty of scary moments in this thriller so it’s not shocking that Austin Stowell, 35, who plays Randall, told HollywoodLife that he’d never want to visit Mr. Roarke’s Fantasy Island in real life. “In this movie, the Island gives you what you want, but it also gives you what you need. And what you need is not exactly what you want all the time. So if I was to go to Fantasy Island I would not want any of my fantasies to come true because there’s going to be wacky guys with masks trying to shoot me and kill me eventually. I don’t want to go,” he said.
Although the movie is definitely not a romantic comedy, Charlotte McKinney, 26, who plays Aphrodite, explained to HollywoodLife why it’s actually a “fun” choice for a Valentine’s Day date. “If you don’t want to go on a cheesy date go see a scary movie, go for a thriller and have some fun on Fantasy Island,” she said.
The stunning blonde said she was thrilled to be a part of the project. Especially considering it was filmed in paradise. “The cast was amazing. I got to go to Fiji and I had never been and working with Jeff Wadlow was really exciting, we’ve always talked about working together and this was kind of the perfect project. It was amazing… I just had such a fun time with Ryan and Jimmy and Jeff and it was just such a fun group of people and it was a dream, it was a fantasy,” she told us.
Charlotte also opened up to HollywoodLife about her Valentine’s Day plans this year. “I don’t normally like to celebrate Valentine’s Day, it’s never been one of my favorite holidays. But I can get into the spirit and do a nice dinner. Keep it simple,” she said. As for whether she’ll be enjoying that dinner with “someone special”, Charlotte played it coy and just told us, “maybe.”