*Paramount Players has optioned a Daily Beast article about the chaos that occurred when a hotel maid from a small Midwestern town won a contest that had among its prizes a dream date with Prince Rogers Nelson.
Actress Elizabeth Banks will star in and produce “Queen For A Day,” based on Chris Lee’s March 5, 2017, Daily Beast story, When Prince Made a Chambermaid His Queen for a Day, according to Deadline.com. Lee’s teaser for the article read:
In 1986, a young motel chambermaid won an MTV dream date with Prince in her tiny Wyoming hometown. On TV, it seemed like a fairy tale. Behind the scenes, coke-fueled chaos reigned.
Banks will produce with Max Handelman through their Brownstone banner along with Josh Stolberg and David Klawans. Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber are executive producers with Brownstone’s Alison Small. Flora Greeson will rewrite a first draft by Stolberg.
In 1986, Warner Bros teamed with MTV for the “Win A Date With Prince” contest to promote his “Purple Rain” followup “Under The Cherry Moon.” The 10,000th caller would win a date with the icon, and the studio would hold a premiere of the film in the winner’s hometown, followed by a concert from Prince and The Revolution.
The winner was Lisa Barber, a young lady in Sheridan, Wyoming who cleaned hotels and was a big Motley Crue fan. Although the film is inspired by the Cinderella story date, the main story will reflect how the event changed the lives of two very different women – the Manhattan PR executive responsible for the event’s success and the shy, awkward contest winner, whose tiny town becomes the unexpected nexus of all things Prince for one unforgettable night, notes Deadline.
Prince will not be played by an actor, though his unseen presence will hover through the film, according to Deadline. The story will focus on the colossal effort that went into bringing His Royal Badness to the small cowboy town.
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