Universal Pictures has announced that the upcoming Pete Davidson (Saturday Night Live)-led comedy The King of Staten Island from co-writer/director Judd Apatow (This is 40, Trainwreck) is skipping a theatrical release and heading straight to VOD this summer. The comedy was set to hit theaters on June 19, but will now hit VOD and digital platforms on June 12.
Scott (Davidson) has been a case of arrested development ever since his firefighter father died when he was seven. He’s now reached his mid-20s having achieved little, chasing a dream of becoming a tattoo artist that seems far out of reach. As his ambitious younger sister (Maude Apatow, HBO’s Euphoria) heads off to college, Scott is still living with his exhausted ER nurse mother (Oscar winner Marisa Tomei) and spends his days smoking weed, hanging with the guys—Oscar (Ricky Velez, Master of None), Igor (Moises Arias, Five Feet Apart) and Richie (Lou Wilson, TV’s The Guest Book)—and secretly hooking up with his childhood friend Kelsey (Bel Powley, Apple TV+’s The Morning Show).
But when his mother starts dating a loudmouth firefighter named Ray (Bill Burr, Netflix’s F Is for Family), it sets off a chain of events that will force Scott to grapple with his grief and take his first tentative steps toward moving forward in life. The film also stars Steve Buscemi as Papa, a veteran firefighter who takes Scott under his wing, and Pamela Adlon (FX’s Better Things) as Ray’s ex-wife, Gina.
The King of Staten Island is directed by Apatow (Trainwreck, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) from a script by Apatow, Davidson and former SNL writer Dave Sirus.
Davidson joined SNL when he was just 20-years-old and has since appeared in numerous TV shows including Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Jim Gaffigan Show. He also had a bit part in the aforementioned Trainwreck and has earned critical raves for his performance in the comedy Big Time Adolescence.