Yesterday, it was reported that Paul Reubens would not only be returning to the big screens as Pee-Wee Herman, but that he’d be teaming up with Judd Apatow. Today, Reubens spoke more about the project that he’s co-writing with actor Paul Rust to The New York Times.
According to Reubens, despite already having scripts that would follow the classic “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” and “Big-Top Pee-Wee” Apatow is “more interested in something closer, in the same vein and the same genre, as Big Adventure.”
Apatow wants “a reality-based world and a linear road movie” said Reubens. Clarifying that “It’s at such an early stage right now that there still exists the possibility that this could turn into the ‘Playhouse’ movie. I don’t think we know the answer to that yet.”
The “Playhouse movie” was Reubens’ original screenplay that would have taken affect if his stage show, “Pee-Wee Herman Show” generated enough interest to re-ignite a new movie.
“It’s not really the real world, it’s Puppetland. On ‘Pee Wee’s Playhouse,’ on the television series we never left the playhouse, we were always inside the playhouse. The movie is all out of the playhouse,” he revealed. “There are two scenes in the playhouse, but the rest is out of the playhouse.”
At this point, I’m sure Pee-Wee fans aren’t too picky over what big screen adaptation they get. However, personally, I’d rather the film go Apatow’s way as I’m uncertain an entire movie set in the playhouse would hold little interest to me now.