Vince Vaughn And Peter Billingsley Launched A Cinematic Journey Podcast Series, Starting With Christmas Movies
It's the holiday season, which means you're probably enjoying your favorite Christmas movies, whether it's a new favorite worth seeking out like "Christmas with the Campbells" or an old favorite like "A Christmas Story." Well, if you're looking for a little more Yuletide fun this year, the filmmakers behind both of those movies have a new podcast series out that will be digging into the legacy of some of your favorite films, and they're starting with Christmas movies.
Vince Vaughn has teamed up with his Wild West Picture Show Productions partner Peter Billingsley, star of "A Christmas Story" and writer/producer of the recent sequel that hit HBO Max (seen above), for the podcast called "A Cinematic Christmas Journey." Of course, the podcast begins with an episode looking back at "A Christmas Story" with some of the film's original cast members reminiscing about the making of the movie and the legacy that has grown around it in the nearly 40 years since it premiered in 1983. But that's not all, because there are five more episodes that will dig into some other holiday mainstays. Vaughn said in a statement to Deadline:
"Peter and I created this podcast to take listeners on an entertaining journey through the most classic Christmas movies ever created. The series will provide insight into the production, themes, and behind the scenes work that created these iconic films. Who better to take us on this journey than Peter Billingsley and award-winning screenwriter Nick Schenk, co-creators of the recently released new classic, 'A Christmas Story Christmas.'"
Get a peek at A Cinematic Christmas Journey
Hosted by Peter BIllingsley and Nick Schenk, "A Cinematic Christmas Journey" will feature six episodes, with each one digging into these Christmas classics: "Home Alone," "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," "Four Christmases," "It's a Wonderful Life," "The Grinch," and of course, "A Christmas Story." Joining Billingsley and Schenk will be some special guests along the way, including Beverly D'Angelo for "Christmas Vacation" and Vince Vaughn himself for "Four Christmases."
The first episode of "A Cinematic Christmas Journey," which digs into "A Christmas Story" with Billingsley's childhood co-stars Ian Petrella, R. D. Robb and Scott Schwartz, is already available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and the latter will have exclusive video episodes available for free. They talk about the process of getting their roles, working with director Bob Clark, and even discuss a deleted scene that has been lost to history, with the film negatives of the sequence nowhere to be found.
The hope for the podcast in the long run is that it will dig into other genres as time goes on, giving us "A Cinematic Journey" across Valentine's Day romantic comedies, Halloween horrors, summer blockbusters, and more. And yes, that means the hosts will be changing with new editions as well. But perhaps Peter Billinglsey can come back for the summer blockbuster episode if they cover Marvel's "Iron Man." Not only does Billingsley famously get yelled at by Jeff Bridges in that movie, but he also produced it with director Jon Favreau.
"A Cinematic Christmas Journey" is produced by Audiorama, a premium creation platform founded by Vince Vaughn, former NFL Pro Bowlers Greg Olsen and Ryan Kalil, Powerhouse Capital and Wild West Picture Show Productions.