There are some movies that are timeless and should not be touched. Other movies are stuck in a time and should not be revisited. We are not sure which if either Birdcage is.
The movie lept onto our gay hearts in 1996. I was in college and still in the closet. Life was quite different for all of us back in the 20th century. But are we that much different 25 year later . Yes, it was a quarter of a century ago that we had Albert, Armand, and Agador enter our lives. Dan Futterman ran into my yummy crush vault and history was made.
Now, thanks to Nathan Lane listening to a podcast we may see where the Goldman clan is. Of course we will not have the wonderful Robin Williams present to take up his role as Armand Goldman, but what would the concept be?
The Daily Beast shared a podcast called the Last Laugh (inserted below) where Lane elaborates that he was listening to a podcast from 2018. Beyond the Box Set was the series but in this episode, they talked about “The Birdcage: Starina Rides Again” a possible sequel to the original Lane/Williams hit.
“So, I’ve got nothing to do, I listened to it,” he says in this preview of next week’s 100th episode of The Last Laugh podcast. The first idea they threw out there was “not good” in his opinion, but as he listened to their second pitch he started thinking to himself, “Gee, this is really good, I’d like to see this movie.” – The Daily Beast
With both director Mike Nichols and his co-star Robin Williams gone, Lane had always thought that “you can’t really revisit” the classic comedy film, which was released 25 years ago next week. “But what this guy came up with, I thought, wow, it’s a way to honor Robin and go off on another adventure with my character and [Hank Azaria’s] Agador Spartacus going to Guatemala,” he explains. “It’s a really smart, clever, funny pitch.”
Lane elaborates in his podcast appearance that he took the interesting concept to MGM and they are optioning it and seeing if they can move forward with it.
The discussion in The Last Laugh leads into Hank Azaria’s troubles he faced voicing Apu from the Simpsons, and folded into the debate about straight people playing gay roles, and other people putting on accents or portraying developmental differences in movies while they are acting. It is a good listen and Lane shares some good thoughts. And his opinion is just another one to listen to, but also remember, Lane acted many straight roles and just came out around the time the promotions for Birdcage started.
“What about acting?” Lane asks. “This is a part of acting, to take on different personalities, a totally different character than you. So, I don’t know. Obviously, I think it’s a healthy discussion, but I think it can be taken to an extreme and I get nostalgic for just being able to act.”
Instincters – What are your thoughts? Should we dabble into a second Birdcage? What would you like to see in it? Happen in it? NOT happen in it? Could a successful sequal be done without Robin Williams?