Taika Waititi and Rita Ora are set to join forces on Fyre Fest: The Musical, spoofing the ill-fated 2017 music festival that made headlines around the world.
The couple, who have been married since 2022, will produce the show to be directed by Bryan Buckley. Grammy-winning producer Paul Epworth will write the music.
In a statement to Theater Mania, Waititi said: “I can’t wait to get started and snatch me some of that sweet American theater money.”
Fyre Festival was intended to be a luxury music festival held in 2017, but the event proved disastrous due to poor organization. It was billed as the ultimate beach party, promising attendees the chance to rub shoulders with celebrities while luxuriating on the white sandy shores of a Caribbean island.
However, it failed to deliver, with announced acts such as Blink 182 and Migos missing and guests left to languish in ratty tents while being served up sad cheese sandwiches in styrofoam containers.
The situation inspired a pair of dueling documentaries and landed organizer Billy McFarland in jail on a federal fraud conviction.
A description of the musical states: “It’s not just a Greek-sized tragedy of one man’s con. It’s a satirical indictment of an entire generation. Fyre Fest the Musical. It’s about as wrong as a bad idea can go.”
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Waititi added: “Working in the theater is always fun. I mean I haven’t done it for 15 years because it was no longer fun, but I’ve been told it will be fun this time. And I believe them. When Bryan Buckley told me he wanted to make a musical about the Fyre Festival, I said ‘Who the hell is Bryan Buckley?’ I then remembered we’ve been friends and work mates for 15 years so it was kinda hard to say no. Honestly, I think the idea is exciting, weird, and potentially disastrous, which seems apt and is how I like to work.”
Buckley made his name directing ESPN commercials for the NHL. He has since directed many Super Bowl commercials as well as the feature films The Bronze (2015) and The Pirates of Somalia (2017).
He said: “I never saw myself doing a theatrical musical comedy. But then again, I never saw something completely mind-bendingly ridiculous and intriguing as what went down with Fyre Festival. A spectacular failed endeavor — that will haunt a generation forever. I cannot wait to get this show out to the world. And yeah man, this time there will actually be music or your money back.”
