Baywatch is a franchise that needs no introduction. Ever since Mitch Buchannon and his cadre of lifeguards first jogged onto the small screen in ’89, it’s a name that has been synonymous with sun, sand, red bikinis, orange-hued sunsets, and wonderfully cheesy pop songs – because running in slow-mo just isn’t the same without David Hasselhoff’s “Current of Love” blaring over the speakers.
A creative overhaul shook things up in 1999, when Baywatch relocated to the sun-kissed beaches of Hawaii. But it’s fair to say that the series never really captured the magic of the show’s heyday. As a brand, Baywatch needed the reboot treatment. Enter Paramount, director Seth Gordon and Dwayne Johnson, the global superstar that has been jokingly referred to as franchise viagra after injecting a new lease of life in The Fast and the Furious saga and, to a lesser extent, G.I. Joe. The latter is still alive and kicking over at Paramount, but the studio is currently more concerned about impossibly attractive lifeguards and their illegal escapades than covert operatives attempting to stop global annihilation.
And so we arrive at two new promos for Seth Gordon’s R-rated Baywatch reboot. It’s “far dirtier than the show” on which it is based, according to lead star Dwayne Johnson, and up above you’ll be able to see The Rock and his fearless crew square off against Victoria Leeds, the nefarious business mogul and night club owner to be played by Priyanka Chopra. She’s the villain stirring up trouble on the bay, and though the visual effects leave much to be desired, Baywatch looks set to live or die on the crackerjack chemistry between its leading stars. That roster of talent includes Zac Efron (Matt Brody), Alexandra Daddario (Summer), Kelly Rohrbach (C.J.), Ilfenesh Hadera (Stephanie Holden) and Jon Bass as Ronnie, a “funny, awkward and a skilled disco dancer at the beach.”
After retreating from the oncoming Alien: Covenant, Seth Gordon’s Baywatch reboot is set to go up against Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on May 26th.