Lex de Azevedo, producer and co-writer of the "Saturday's Warrior" musical and planned film reboot, has announced a Kickstarter campaign for the movie.
"I’m more excited about this movie than I have been about anything I have ever done in my life," de Azevedo said.
The stage version of "Saturday's Warrior" first debuted in 1974 at Brigham Young University and has been performed on stages around the world. The 115-minute video was released in 1989 and later re-relased on DVD in 2000.
And de Azevedo hopes to make the movie even more global. The Kickstarter campaign began Aug. 18 with a goal to reach $100,000 in pledges.
"It’s one thing to make a motion picture, but it’s quite another to make it global," de Azevedo said. "You have to dub it in various languages, and promote it and advertise it throughout the world. The people who love 'Saturday’s Warrior' get to decide how big we make it and how far we take it."
Kickstarter rewards include being an extra in the film or receiving an invitation to a red carpet meet-and-greet with the cast.
Most of the film, which will be released in summer 2016, will stay true to the original production. According to de Azevedo, it will remain set in the 1970s and feature the same characters and most of the original songs.
One difference, though, is that Jimmy, the prodigal son of the story, joins a rock and roll band that becomes a huge success while his family struggles to make ends meet in a small, Partridge Family-type of musical family group. Each song showcased will have a music video style to it, de Azevedo said.
Broadway performer Christeena Riggs and former "American Idol" contestant Justin Williams have agreed to sing for the production, and de Azevedo is hoping to secure some Mormon celebrity cameo appearances in the film.
"Almost weekly for 40 years, someone has come up to me and thanked me for writing 'Saturday’s Warrior' and told me how it’s changed their life," de Azevedo said.
He said the message of "Saturday's Warrior" remains the same now as it did when he originally wrote the production: that this life isn't the end or the beginning.
"I’ve wondered why it was so impactful, and I think one of the reasons is that 'Saturday’s Warrior' presents in a real way the idea that there’s more to life than this life," de Azevedo said. "It helps people look at their life from an eternal perspective. And when we look at our life from an eternal perspective, a lot of things come into focus for us, and our priorities change. I think that’s one of the big, powerful elements in 'Saturday’s Warrior.’”
Email: sgambles@deseretdigital.com