Gilligan’s Island is about to receive the big-screen treatment after the show bowed on television almost half a century ago. Josh Gad, who was most recently heard in Frozen as the goofy snowman sidekick Olaf, will be co-writing the script and starring in the film.
As of now, there is no word on which character the actor will play, but given his involvement in the script as well as his rising popularity in Hollywood, the titular role of Gilligan seems likely, though the character of Professor Roy Hinkley could be a good fit as well.
Josh Gad is an actor/writer that is quickly the rise, as mentioned above, and it seems as if he’s only just getting warmed up. While he’s no stranger to acting and writing, you can expect to see his name much more in the near future. In addition to Gilligan’s Island, he will soon be playing comedian Sam Kinison in a Larry Charles-helmed biopic, he’ll star in the comedy The Wedding Ringer and he will also be writing the Twins sequel, Triplets.
For those who weren’t around to watch Gilligan’s Island when it first aired, it followed a group of passengers on the S.S. Minnow who were taking “a three hour tour” and ended up shipwrecked on an island. First Mate Gilligan, Skipper, a millionaire, a professor and an actress were among those that were stranded. The show mostly focused on the characters trying to get off the island as well as learning how to live on such meager terms.
The core comedic element was Gilligan’s idiocy, which frequently impeded the rest of the characters’ escape plans. Other running jokes involved breaking the fourth wall, slapstick humor, and zany inventions fashioned from bamboo.
A Gilligan’s Island movie has been planned since early 2012, but the film is only now coming to fruition. With Gad now signed on, it looks like the project is picking up steam and I’d imagine that we’ll be hearing more on this one in the coming months.