Attention The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert fans!
A sequel to the iconic 1994 movie is finally happening, confirms original star Guy Pearce. But, that legendary lavender bus is still a long, long ways away.
The groundbreaking and Oscar-winning film follows a band of rejects, queers, and drag queens who set off for the harsh and arid Australian outback in a bus named Priscilla. The crew decides to hitch up their skirts and get groovy to Gloria Gaynor, all the while learning a lesson or two about themselves. It's also a film that delicately, but directly, addresses both homophobia and transphobia with compassion.
In a recent red carpet interview with Good Morning America's out gay correspondent James Longman in London, Pearce revealed the much anticipated sequel is definitely in the works, with production to begin sometime next year.
"Well, the sequel, which is going to be ā what are we now, ā26?" Pearce said. "We'll probably shoot it ā27, itāll come out ā28."
Longman confessed what many people felt upon seeing the original film: "Priscilla, I don't mind telling you, was my gay awakening!" Pearce then embraced Longman by putting his arm around his shoulder and clasping his hand so that they shared the microphone, and delivered the news fans have been waiting to hear directly to the camera.
Longman, with his own arm around Pearce's shoulder, had a follow-up question for the actor, who is now appearing in the new Ridley Scott sci-fi film, The Dog Stars.
"Are you going to get into the same shape for it like you did last time?" he asked.
Pearce, 58, took a beat and then, still holding Longman's hand, smiled broadly as he responded: "How dare you!"
Pearce's co-star, Terence Stamp, died last year at 87. He was 56 when he played the icy widow, Bernadette Bassenger, an out trans woman who joins two drag queens on their odd odyssey. The trio is rounded out by the brash and often obnoxious Adam Whitely (Felicia Jollygoodfellow) played by Pearce, and Anthony "Tick" Belrose (Mitzi Del Bra), played by Hugo Weaving.
The movie was written and directed by Stephan Elliott and was inspired by the real-life experiences of actual Australian drag queens. Elliott takes the audience on a fictionalized adventure organized by Anthony for the trio to perform in a cabaret at a resort, and secretly hopes to reconnect with his estranged wife and young son.
Each character hides a secret during their expedition and their epic vacation parallels the percolating emotional problems of our respective heroes and heroines. In 2011, a stage musical based on the movie hit Broadway and won a Tony Award. The director went on the record in 2024 that he planned to direct the sequel and had written a script featuring the stars from the first film.
"The original cast is on board, Iāve got a script that everybody likes, weāre still working out deals," Elliot told Deadline. "Itās happening."
Despite Stamp's death on Aug. 17, 2025, Elliott told Deadline last year that Stamp will still appear in the sequel, and he will not be using AI.
Elliott "decided to pre-shoot all the Bernadette scenes," he said, as the actor "wasn't getting any younger, and that's a fact he loved to shove down our throats almost every day."
"When the AI wars broke out, Terence was indignant that he didnāt want a digital clone of himself playing Bernadette," Elliott said. "He wanted the chance to put the character down himself. And I will quote him in this case. He said: 'Just in case I don't make the start line.'"
You can view a compilation of some of the funniest scenes from the original movie at this link.
- YouTube youtu.be
