“Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” Sequel Happening with Original Stars 30 Years After the Groundbreaking Film

The original Oscar-winning 1994 film follows three drag performers as they travel across the Australian desert

Elise Lockwood/Polygram/Australian Film Finance/Kobal/Shutterstock The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert

Priscilla is hitting the road once more.

In a recent interview with The Guardian Australia, Stephan Elliott, the director of the Oscar-winning movieThe Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, confirmed that the 1994 cult classic would be getting a sequel — with Elliott and the original cast signing on.

The movie — which follows drag queens Tick, a.k.a. Mitzi Del Bra (Hugo Weaving), Adam a.k.a. Felicia Jollygoodfellow (Guy Pearce) and trans woman Bernadette Bassenger (Terence Stamp), as they road trip through the Australian desert on the titular bus, Priscilla — will see Elliott return as director, writer and producer.

According to Elliott, the script is finalized and the creatives are now in search of financiers. Originally, the writer/director thought that the trio’s journey across Australia was over after the first film but he later changed his mind, telling the outlet: “I had something that needed to be said.”

Elise Lockwood/Polygram/Australian Film Finance/Kobal/Shutterstock The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert (1994)

The script took him over five years to write, he added, telling the outlet that the death of his parents in 2020 and 2023 pushed him to finish it.

“This is not a dire story, it is pretty extravagant. I’m going to give RuPaul a run for her money, let me tell you that,” he said. “But I don’t want to repeat myself, so it’s taken me a long while to come up with something, to [realize] that there’s something that needs to be said about tolerance.”

Elliott also told the outlet he was inspired by the recent political changes of the last 30 years — especially former president Donald Trump’s turn in office — to continue the film’s story.

“People have been screaming for me to do this for 30 years. And suddenly I had the [realization] that we’re all getting old. We’re losing people,” Elliott added to the Guardian. “And with Trump coming in now – it’s all about to erupt again. Somebody said to me, ‘Is this the right time to make this film?’ I said, ‘It is the perfect time to make this film.’ “

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“People think of the original film as a lot of costumes and music and great fun, but it’s also a dagger in the heart,” he added. ”I’m not going to do just tits and feathers.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Elliott discussed some of the plans for world-building in this next film. He teased that although it will take place in part in Australia, the queens might also be traveling the world. Additionally, the age of the original actors (Stamp is 85) will play a part in how they expand the world of Priscilla.

“You have to remember that Tick had a kid – now that kid has grown up and now he’s got his own family,” he noted. “We have our three principals, but we have to build in the new world.”

Although the iconic, titular bus in the film was lost for many years after the film’s production ended, it recently resurfaced in a rural area of New South Wales, as the Guardian previously reported, and Elliott confirms it will make an appearance in the next film.

“When the bus surfaced it felt like, ‘Is this some kind of celestial lineup?’ ” he said. “There’s lots of work to be done. But we’re off.”

Read the original article on People.