'Queenpins' Trailer: Kristen Bell And Kirby Howell-Baptiste Get Rich Quick With Counterfeit Coupons
Here's a movie you didn't know you needed: Queenpins, which features Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as two housewives committing extreme couponing crimes.
Not only is this an actual movie plot, but it's also based on the true story of two women, drowning in debt in the suburbs, who turn counterfeit coupons into a multi-million dollar scam. And it's just as wild as it sounds.
Check out the trailer for Queenpins below.
Queenpins Trailer
What is it about Kristen Bell that makes her such a fun criminal? In The Good Place, she starred as the initially despicable Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman so bad she's bound for hell. In Queenpins, she walks the immoral line once again. As Connie, Bell plays a woman struggling to make ends meet, even when it comes to basic groceries. For a while, she seems to accept this as reality, along with her best friend JoJo, whose circumstances are no better. And then Connie comes to a life-changing realization. "The system has set us up to fail," she tells JoJo, hatching the early stages of their plan. "You know who gets rewarded? People who don't follow the rules. It's time we start bending them a little."
It certainly pays off: Connie goes from sighing at overdue bills to throwing cash in a private jet. Who knew couponing could be so lucrative?
Connie and JoJo begin as couponers by necessity and turn the money-saving technique into a shared hobby. JoJo even makes a YouTube channel out of it, "Time to Save with JoJo." But things change drastically after Connie angrily attacks a corporation over a stale box of cereal — and gets an apology, along with a dozen freebie coupons. Cue the lightbulb.
Using coupons in a grocery store is a great way to save money, but selling coupons will actually make their money. Those freebies are the key to their success, so they embark on a pink-collar crime spree that scams millions from mega-corporations. But it isn't long before their scheme gets noticed. Along the way, they'll be pursued by a local supermarket's loss prevention officer (Paul Walter Hauser) and a US Postal Inspector (Vince Vaughn). The pair don't make the most threatening duo, but their specific skillsets mean they catch on to the scheme and might be uniquely qualified to stop it in its tracks.
Knowing they might be in over their heads, Connie and JoJo recruit the help of someone who has more expertise in lawbreaking, Tempe Tina played by pop star Bebe Rexha. Though she sees the massive potential in their plot, she also pokes plenty of holes in the plan. With her help, JoJo and Connie might get rich even quicker than they anticipated.
On paper, a coupon caper doesn't sound thrilling, but this trailer makes it look like a real riot. It helps that Queenpins comes from STXFilms, the studio behind the critically acclaimed crime-drama Hustlers. Written and directed by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, the comedy also stars Joel McHale, Nick Cassavetes, Marc Evan Jackson, and Dayo Okeniyi.
Queenpins opens in theaters on September 10, 2021 and heads to Paramount+ soon after.