Amy Poehler’s Movie ‘Wine Country’ Is Based on Real Vacations With Her ‘SNL’ Friends

Wine Country, a Netflix movie featuring six hilarious SNL veterans running amok through Napa Valley wineries, is easily one of the most anticipated comedies of the year. And now, director/producer/co-star Amy Poehler and her BFF/co-star Maya Rudolph tell Vanity Fair that the film was inspired by a few memorable vacations that the comedians and their famous friends took together in real life.

The first of these trips was a jaunt to Napa Valley for Rachel Dratch’s 50th birthday that began with Poehler misplacing the phone that contained their itinerary, and the second was a trip to Palm Springs for Ana Gasteyer’s 50th birthday that they called the “Muumuu Nitpick,” because all the friends wore muumuus and shared gripes throughout the weekend. Poehler says she was inspired to turn these vacations into her feature directorial debut because “there’s just not enough films that take full advantage of what it’s like to be our age and to be around women that have known you for a really long time but aren’t competing for the same job or the same guy.” The comedian-turned-director also notes that her pals are “the greatest, funniest performers.”

The plot of Wine Country involves six friends renting an AirBNB in Napa to celebrate their pal’s 50th birthday, but the carefully-planned weekend quickly goes off the rails once they start drinking together. Dratch plays the birthday girl, while Poehler, Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell, and Emily Spivey play the friends helping her celebrate. Rudolph and Poehler’s frequent collaborator Tina Fey will have a small part as the owner of the AirBNB. In the script by Spivy and Liz Cackowski, women have most of the dialogue, and there are no scenes where two straight men talk to each other. “Every film has a certain amount of real estate,” Poehler tells Vanity Fair. “It was nice not to give that precious real estate to a story we didn’t wanna tell.”

Wine Country will land on Netflix on May 10, per IMDB. Stay tuned for updates on the comedy’s release as they become available.

• Funny or Bust: Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph Take Vanity Fair on the Ultimate Joyride [Vanity Fair]
• Amy Poehler and Her SNL Pals Head to ‘Wine Country’ for Netflix [E]