Pete Davidson’s early years explored in The King of Staten Island trailer

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The trailer for THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND has made its debut and the semi-autobiographical dramedy follows Saturday Night Live breakout, Pete Davidson, as a character loosely based on himself. 

Directed by Judd Apatow, the film chronicles Davidson growing up on Staten Island, dealing with the death of his firefighter father during 9/11, and pursuing stand-up comedy. Ever since he was seven, Scott (Davidson) has been in a state of arrested development. The death of his father has impacted his life in such a way that he's now in his mid-20s and has achieved very little. His ambitious younger sister, played by Maude Apatow, had headed off to college, and Scott is still living with his exhausted ER nurse mother played by Marisa Tomei. Life gets real for Scott when his mother starts dating a loudmouth firefighter named Ray (Bill Burr) and it forces him to grapple with his grief and take his first steps to move forward with his life in a meaningful way. The film also stars Ricky Velez, Moises Arias, Lou Wilson, Bel Powley, Steve Buscemi, and Pamela Adlon. 

The KING OF STATEN ISLAND was originally scheduled for a theatrical release but the COVID-19 pandemic and theater closures drove the studio to switch to a PVOD release model which will now have the film arriving for home viewing on June 12, 2020. For Apatow, who co-wrote the film with Davidson and former SNL writer Dave Sirus, this is his first film behind the camera since his 2015 hit, TRAINWRECK.

I think Pete Davidson has lived a pretty interesting life and I actually find him pretty funny in an offbeat sort of way. This film certainly looks promising and it looks like it tackles some serious life-changing moments while also maintaining a sense of humor. You also can't really go wrong with Apatow so I'm finally confident with him leading this ship.

Are YOU interested in seeing THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND? The film hits PVOD rental on June 12, 2020.