Three Generations of Griswolds Pose for First 'Vacation' Photo
Pictured left to right: (Top) Christina Applegate, Ed Helms, Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo (Bottom) Skyler Gisondo, Steele Stebbins
We don’t yet know how much Clark Griswold we’ll get in the upcoming Vacation reboot. But Chevy Chase fans should take the first photo released from the film as a good sign.
Both Clark (Chase) and Ellen Griswold (Beverly D'Angelo) pose alongside screen son Rusty (Ed Helms), daughter-in-law Debbie (Christina Applegate) and their kids (Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins) in the freshly released pic, taken in front of the clan’s famous green “Wagon Queen Family Truckster” (a modified Ford LTD Country Squire). It’s a scene that’s reminiscent of a similar photo from the original 1983 comedy about a family on a road trip from hell:
Chevy Chase, Anthony Michael Hall, Beverly D’Angelo, and Dana Barron in ‘Vacation’ (1983)
When Chase and D'Angelo joined the reboot’s cast in 2013, Variety reported that their roles were “more on the cameo level,” but at the time it was considered a coup for the filmmakers to land the two veteran actors at all.
Their involvement aside, this will be Helms’ show. The comedy, co-directed by Horrible Bosses writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein, follows Rusty (played by Anthony Michael Hall in the original, and three separate actors in the subsequent sequels) and his family as they embark on an inevitably disastrous road trip to — where else? — Walley World.
The film is the first of two high-profile ‘80s reboots for Helms: He’s also attached to a new Naked Gun movie. Chase and D'Angelo, meanwhile, will also reteam in an upcoming ABC sitcom called Chevy (shortened from its original title, Chev and Bev).
Not pictured in this first still: Avengers star/People’s Sexiest Man Alive Chris Hemsworth, who makes his comedy debut as a character named Stone Crandall. Also appearing in the star-studded film are Leslie Mann, Charlie Day, Michael Pe?a, Nick Kroll, and Keegan-Michael Key.
Vacation premieres in theaters on July 31.
Watch the trailer for the 1983 original: