Some films simply never go away. The ideas behind them are too strong for just one movie. They keep coming back as re-makes, but with a twist to keep them fresh.
Whether it's a classic screwball comedy like The Front Page (1931), which returned nine years later as His Girl Friday, or Leigh Whannell’s 2020 trauma-filled take on 30's horror, The Invisible Man, they all return to find new audiences.
And now Prime Video has developed a movie that can be re-made and reworked to suit audiences all around the world. It started last year as the romantic comedy Five Blind Dates (also available on Prime Video), set among the Chinese-Australian community in Sydney.
The story, which does more or less what it says on the tin, focuses on tea shop owner Lia (Shuanh Hu), who is told by a fortune teller that she’ll find her true love at one of her next five dates. The question is, of course, which one…
Today [Thursday, March 6], and in double quick time, the UK version has arrived on Prime Video globally. Picture This moves much the same narrative to the Asian community in London. For tea shop owner, read struggling photographer, for Lia read Pia (Bridgerton's Simone Ashley) and for fortune teller read spiritual guru. The predictable formula is just all part of the fun, and from the trailer it looks like this version will live up to everybody’s expectations.
Cue lots of vibrant colour, loveably irritating over-protective parents, the clash between traditional and modern, with the younger generation putting careers before marriage and, yes, plenty of romance as well. Add a big wedding to give it more cultural flavour — just like the original — and the possibility of a multi-cultural relationship and, while those parents are going to be seriously upset, it should go down a storm with audiences.
Five Blind Dates was Prime Video's first Australian original feature, yet felt remarkably familiar. Everybody’s favourite cliches were there – sassy friends, makeover montages, unsuitable suitors being shown the door — and, even if the movie relied on them a touch too much, that familiarity just added to its considerable appeal. It even extended to the cast, with the father figure played by Tzi Ma, the go-to Chinese actor for this type of role and who always delivers when it comes to laughs. Remember him in The Farewell?
A regular Chinese face on Western screens, his career started over 45 years ago and has taken in blockbusters like Rush Hour and top TV series including Veep as well as comedy. Similarly, Picture This puts Bridgerton favourite Simone Ashley in the spotlight as Pia, alongside a supporting cast that includes Hero Fiennes Tiffin (After), Sindhu Vee (Matilda: The Musical), Asim Chaudhry (What's Love Got To Do With It?) and Phil Dunster (Ted Lasso). We're guessing it will be incredibly obvious right from the start who Pia will marry, but you’d expect nothing less. And finding the love of Pia's life will have plenty of setbacks along the way.
With her photography business nearly on the rocks and no man on the horizon, she’s still fiercely holding on to her independence as her sister Sonal (Anoushka Chadha) prepares to get married. Her mother, meanwhile, keeps urging her to partner up and there’s a glimmer of hope for both of them when a spiritual guru at Sonal’s engagement party predicts Pia will meet the love of her life in her next five dates. As her family get involved and her ex (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) re-appears, both her love and professional lives are thrown into chaos.
Five Blind Dates was enough of a hit with audiences for Prime Video to announce Picture This just a month after its release. Yes, it’s familiar – unashamedly so – and we know exactly what to expect. But that’s why audiences will always love this type of film. It only remains to be seen where the story will move to next.
Five Blind Dates is available on Prime Video in the US and UK. Picture This launched on Prime Video in the US and UK on Thursday, 6 March.
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