Featured Image Credit: IFC Films
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity, Art
Jake Massey
The first trailer for a new movie starring Owen Wilson has dropped - and people are a little confused.
The actor plays a softly-spoken frizzy-haired painter called... Carl Nargle. Not Bob Ross.
Check out the trailer here:
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In the trailer for Paint, Wilson can be seen brushing beautiful landscapes while gently fawning over the beauty of nature as onlooking women swoon.
He dons a partially unbuttoned shirt and rocks a distinctive brunette bush of hair, accompanied by a brown beard.
Basically, you're waiting for confirmation this is a Bob Ross movie, and then Wilson goes: "Thanks for going to a special place with me, Carl Nargle."
So it seems the film is closely based on the famous artist, known for hosting The Joy of Painting during the '80s and '90s, but they've stopped one step short of explicitly stating such.
This omission left viewers a little confused about what exactly the comedy is all about.
On Twitter, one perplexed observer wrote: "Is this some sort of Bob Ross ripoff? Or is Carl Dangle an actual person?"
Another person commented: "I don't care, I'm referring to him as Bob Ross," while a third asked: "Couldn't get the rights to Bob's name?"
Hopefully writer and director Brit McAdams will eventually spill the beans about why he opted to name the character Carl Nargle.
Perhaps when we see the film it will become clear why he made the decision, given it's a work of fiction which may not exactly be flattering to the late painter. It certainly gives you a bit more licence creatively if you don't explicitly state that the film is about a real-life public figure.
What's for sure though is that this movie would not exist if Bob Ross didn't.
The painter died in 1995, aged 52, but he has lived on through his show, which has become enormously popular with a new generation of viewers, particularly those who enjoy ASMR and getting high.
Whether Paint appeals to the same demographic remains to be seen.
The synopsis for the film reads: "Owen Wilson stars as Carl Nargle, Vermont's #1 public TV painter who is convinced he has it all: a signature perm, custom van, and fans hanging on his every stroke… until a younger, better artist steals everything (and everyone) Carl loves."
The movie is out in the US on 7 April and is scheduled for release in the UK on 28 April.