{"id":2016,"date":"2026-06-12T22:09:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2016"},"modified":"2026-06-12T22:09:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:09:56","slug":"stop-that-train-producers-fenton-bailey-and-randy-barbato-on-their-silly-disaster-spoof-its-not-just-fun-its-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2016","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Stop That Train\u2019 Producers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato on Their Silly Disaster Spoof: \u2018It\u2019s Not Just Fun. It\u2019s Healing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tThis weekend, the \u201cDrag Race\u201d universe is expanding and getting ready to slay moviegoers with \u201cStop That Train.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2014\">Justice Department Approves Paramount\u2019s Warner Bros. Discovery Takeover Without Any Strings Attached<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe disaster movie parody comes via Bleecker Street Films and World of Wonder, delivering 92 minutes of absurd silliness. Helmed by Adam Shankman\u00a0and produced by World of Wonder co-founders Fenton Bailey\u00a0and\u00a0Randy Barbato, the film stars RuPaul as Madame President Gagwell, who tries to avert a national disaster while attempting to boost approval ratings.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhen a high-speed train called the Glamazonian Express is struck by lightning and hurtles toward disaster \u2014 a threatening \u201cstormaganza\u201d \u2014 the president is put to the test.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tStarring alongside RuPaul is a roster of former \u201cDrag Race\u201d contestants. Best friends Tess (Ginger Minj) and DeeDee (Jujubee) play train stewardesses who trade their dreary shifts on the Stank Rail for the glitzy Glamazonian Express. Except they encounter the A-Squad \u2014 the Glamazonian Express version of \u201cMean Girls\u201d \u2014 led by Ayshleiygh (Symone), Alli (Marcia Marcia Marcia) and Amber (Brook Lynn Hytes).<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe film also boasts cameos from Nicole Richie, Lisa Rinna, Raven Symone, Matt Rogers and Sarah Michelle Gellar.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cStop That Train\u2019s\u201d journey to the big screen began 11 years ago with Bailey and Barbato brainstorming ideas. However, as the project germinated, the pair continued telling stories in the unscripted and documentary space. But the idea for this scripted movie was always there, and there couldn\u2019t be a better time for a comedy that doesn\u2019t take itself too seriously to hit movie theaters.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBailey says, \u201cWe\u2019re living in what seems like a real-life nightmare, and we need laughter.\u201d There\u2019s no shortage of laughs in the film, with a script penned by Christina Friel and Connor Wright. Bailey adds, \u201cLaughter is activism, is resistance. If you can laugh in the face of oppression, that\u2019s resistance, and more importantly, it\u2019s fun. President Gagwell, she\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhile RuPaul might be best known as the host of \u201cDrag Race,\u201d Bailey notes that when he and Barbato met Ru in the mid-\u201980s, \u201che was making movies, \u2018Starbooty.\u2019 Randy and I always knew Ru was a movie star from the very beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBarbato adds that RuPaul, who is also a producer on the film, \u201cwas built for this. Ru is super efficient when it comes to everything, and it is amazing to watch him act. I\u2019m sure, hundreds of years from now, people will dissect all the micro gestures and be able to pull precisely where and who they came from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2013\">What Taylor Swift\u2019s Big Week With \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Steven Spielberg and the New York Knicks Says About Her Next Era<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tAs the film rolled into development, Shankman nixed the original idea of the film being set on board an airplane, and suggested changing the location to a train. \u201cWe can use all the stakes of what happens on an airplane and even the jokes,\u201d Shankman said.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe comedy comes courtesy of the queens and \u201cDrag Race\u201d alumni who effortlessly land their jokes. Bailey doesn\u2019t find their ability to land jokes surprising. He says, \u201cDrag queens are actors. The moment they hit the runway, walk onto a stage, they\u2019re playing a role.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe film was shot on location in Los Angeles, on the same stage where \u201cDrag Race\u201d films. While it took 19 days to shoot, the production used up to 200 local crew members, and provided jobs for the local community. It was also independently financed.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAnd even though the film took 10 years, Barbato points out, \u201cIt\u2019s not that dissimilar to the trajectory of \u2018Drag Race,\u2019 and trajectory of virtually everything World of Wonder does. It does take time, because most of the stuff we do is fiercely independent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWe knew we had very little, and we knew we wanted to make very much,\u201d Barbato says. \u201cThis is an indie film in studio drag, and that really is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAs for what inspires their storytelling and projects, Bailey says, \u201cThe entire inspiration at World of Wonder really comes from our days in the East Village watching drag shows at the Pyramid with an audience. Whether it\u2019s \u2018RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race: Vegas Revue,\u2019 Drag Con, or seeing \u2018Drag Race\u2019 in a bar, it\u2019s so much fun to do things with an audience. It\u2019s not just fun \u2014 it\u2019s healing. Laughter is medicine, chicken soup for the soul.\u201d He says in jest, \u201cYou come out of this movie and your face hurts because you\u2019ve been laughing so much, and that makes a nice change from being punched in the face by the news cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBarbato admits they loved working in the scripted space. \u201cI think this film might make people feel even more comfortable about our, our secret abilities in this arena,\u201d he says. Could they ever do horror? \u201cI\u2019ve got a few horror ideas,\u201d Bailey teases. <\/p>\n<p>\n\tFor now, Barbato and Bailey want people to bring joy to audiences. Bailey says he hopes people will leave \u201chappier than when they came in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2011\">Roku Stock Jumps 20% on Report It\u2019s in Sales Talks With a U.S. Media Company<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Stop That Train&#8221; producers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato hope their silly disaster spoof brings joy to movie audiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1727,1728,1729],"class_list":["post-2016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-rupaul","tag-stop-that-train-3","tag-world-of-wonder"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Stop That Train\u2019 Producers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato on Their Silly Disaster Spoof: \u2018It\u2019s Not Just Fun. 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