“Like yourself. Your weight doesn’t matter. For those who like yourself, you’re gonna be fantastic.”
Those are the primary words uttered by Pauly Shore as fitness icon Richard Simmons in the teaser trailer for the upcoming short film “The Court Jester.”
Nevertheless, Simmons himself is not fantastic with the “Encino Man” playing him in the short, or in an unrelated biopic in development at the Wolper Organization, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.
“Richard and I are not endorsing this project,” Simmons’ rep told ET in a press release on Wednesday. “It’s unauthorized. I spoke to Pauly last yr and told him [Richard] is not able to tell his story.”
Shore looks like a dead ringer for Simmons in the trailer and promo stills released for “The Court Jester,” which show the comic sporting the fitness legend’s trademark curly red hair, uber-short shorts and sparkly blue tank top.
“I’m really enthusiastic about sharing Richard Simmons’ life with the world,” Shore said in a press release.
“All of us need this biopic now greater than ever. Simmons represented mental health, getting people in shape and being his authentic silly self!” he added. “At any time when he was on TV you might never take your eyes off of him and he brought such a joy to his appearances that represented nothing but time.”
Lower than 12 hours after the photographs were released, Simmons made a rare statement on social media and seemingly distanced himself from the project.
“Hi Everybody! You might have heard they could be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore,” a message posted on Wednesday to Simmons’ verified Facebook account reads. “I actually have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t imagine the whole lot you read. I not have a manager, and I not have a publicist. I just attempt to live a quiet life and be peaceful. Thanks for all of your love and support. Richard.”
“The Court Jester,” which also stars comedian Tamra Brown as Ellen DeGeneres, has gotten the support of Wolper Organization head Mark Wolper, despite being unrelated to the feature-length Simmons biopic in the works.
“There’s an incredible, dramatic and uplifting story to inform about Richard Simmons,” Wolper said in a press release. “We’ve been dancing around the thought for years, however it never coalesced until several months ago after I saw the press about Pauly Shore being touted by social media because the ONLY individual that could play Richard.”
Wolper continued, “I saw the image of them and realized these two are very similar, they each lived or died by how the world perceived them, they each fought to present their fans what they wanted and so they each deserve an incredible comeback story! My company has locked Pauly all the way down to play Richard Simmons and we’re in serious discussions with a serious author to develop this as a dramatic and heartfelt feature in the tone of ‘Little Miss Sunshine.’”
Shore seems to imagine the role may earn him his first Oscar.
“I’ve noticed all of the reactions to me playing #RichardSimmons in a new biopic,” Shore said on his Instagram. “So I reached out to him. I heard he’s living deep in Big Bear. We’ve been playing phone tag (yes, he still has a phone). I’m attempting to make it occur for you guys. I definitely can morph into this guy. I’ll see you on the @theacademy 2025.”
“The Court Jester” will premiere on the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 19.