This interview originally ran in the March 2014 issue of AVN magazine. To see the rest of the print coverage of the AVN Awards Show, click here.
After picking up awards for Best Parody - Comedy for Grease XXX (Adam & Eve Pictures) and Best Director - Parody for Not The Wizard of Oz XXX, parody king Will Ryder still has big ambitions for 2014.
“Coming up first is Cinderella XXX, which will be an X-Play movie as far as we know. It's going to be a big, lavish movie with the ball gowns and everything that people imagine it will be. It'll be one of our biggest blockbusters of the year as far as scope of production. Right now, we're still casting it, but the star will be Jessa Rhodes; she's going to be Cinderella. We haven't narrowed down who the other players will be yet, but I can tell you that Seth Gamble will be the handsome prince. It'll be our Wizard of Oz of 2015; that's what I say.
“We were hired by Smash Pictures to produce and direct American Hustle XXX: A Parody, and that will be a real big movie for us, because Smash wants to get into the game, they want to get into contention [for awards]. It's lonely not being in contention … obviously we will attack it as if it's strictly an X-Play project. I've never done anything current like that, and it's such a big movie. I think it has like 10 Academy Award nominations, and every time you watch the movie, it just gets better and better." Click here for Ryder's comments on the production, which was shot this month.
"it's going to be a little bit of a different vibe for us, because although it will be a comedy, it'll be a comedy with a complete dramatic flair, so that will be unique for me, because I'm usually a 'line, line, punchline' kind of guy, so this will be different than that. This will be making fun of the obvious, and just having a really good time creating a parody of something that was actually funny in the movie theaters, so quite a challenge. The one thing that makes it right up our alley is that it's got that ’70s vibe. Smash Pictures has great marketing and they have great sales with Stuart Wall, so we’re excited to be a part of that," Ryder said.
There are more plans in the works, Ryder revealed: “Scott David and I will also be shooting an original romance comedy for Adam & Eve as well as producing a big-budget parody comedy.”
As if that all weren't enough, there's also Not Traci Lords: The Golden Age of Porn, a labor of love from the X-Play team. Ryder said, "Fans of ’80s porn will love our original look back at Traci Lords and the fabulous stars of that era, including Ginger Lynn, Amber Lynn, Christy Canyon, Bunny Bleu, Nina Hartley and more. Nobody has ever attempted to bring back an entire era with today's girls playing the iconic names of yesteryear. This is going to be quite eye-opening and fun.”
Then, when the days get a little bit longer, we'll be doing a movie I've wanted to do for a long time: We are doing The XXX Helter Skelter Girls of Charles Manson. It won't be a comedy. We're not going to show the murders, though, but right up to the point of the murders. It basically captures the Manson clan back when it was all dashikis and happiness and hippie love power and orgies. And between now and then, we've got a lot of writing, a lot of research to do, and Scott's already busy running around town getting costumes and furniture, and we're back in full-blown production mode—but everything comes down to the economy and what people are buying, because free porn is wiping out the DVD industry. There was a time when everything we did was a hit. Those days are gone."
Pictured above, the Grease XXX team. Front, from left: James Bartholet, Will Ryder, Scott David, Seth Gamble. Back, from left: Rick Garcia, Rebecca Bardoux, Kurt Lockwood, Brooklyn Chase.
