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Josh Gad reunites classic movie casts in YouTube series ‘Reunited Apart’

Josh Gad revisits beloved movie franchises via their casts in “Reunited Apart,” streaming on YouTube. Gad has filmed four episodes so far, ranging in length from half an hour to nearly an hour, all available on his YouTube page. Episodes include reunions with the casts of “The Goonies,” “Back to the Future,” “Splash”  and “Lord …

Josh Gad revisits beloved movie franchises via their casts in “Reunited Apart,” streaming on YouTube.

Gad has filmed four episodes so far, ranging in length from half an hour to nearly an hour, all available on his YouTube page. Episodes include reunions with the casts of “The Goonies,” “Back to the Future,” “Splash”  and “Lord of the Rings.” That particular episode currently has over 4 million views and raised over $140,000 for the No Kid Hungry charity.

Gad says the idea started as a way to raise money for people struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s one thing to just go on social media and say, ‘Hey, donate to this cause,’ which I think is less effective than giving something in return,” Gad, 39, tells The Post. “I wanted to give people pure joy, and I have been watching all of these movies that I loved as a kid with my own [daughters].

“I thought, ‘How great would it be, at a time when people are longing for simple nostalgia, to bring together casts from some of the iconic films that were part of my journey?’ ”

“Reunited Apart” joins John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” as a rapidly rising genre: a feelgood show on YouTube with a host of nostalgia-heavy content and a copious use of video conferencing.

Gad says a fifth episode “is indeed going to be reuniting the cast and creative team of ‘Ghostbusters,’ ” though there’s no premiere date yet.

Jeff Cohen, Sean Astin, Corey Feldman and Jonathan Ke Quan in “The Goonies.”

©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett

Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd in “Ghostbusters.”

©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett

Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd and Sean Astin in “The Lord of the Rings.”

©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett


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“I have the next three mapped out, and I think I’m going to take a little break and then hopefully come back to it at some point soon,” he says. “Just because it is all-consuming, and it is something that has been amazing — but also something that, for the most part, has been a lot of goodwill by a lot of great people who have day jobs.

“Making the show has been one of the great privileges, primarily because it’s brought so many people such joy, and it’s brought so many amazing charities a great return. I’m hoping to do as many as I can.”

Gad, best known for “Beauty and the Beast” and for voicing Olaf in “Frozen,” says that not everyone agrees to appear on “Reunited Apart.” He uses a variety of methods to track down celebs, including reaching out personally (if he knows them), having his reps reach out or sometimes sending them messages on social media.

“Each episode presents its own challenges,” he says. “A lot of people think everyone I go to says ‘yes,’ or that, for anyone who’s not on the show, I haven’t asked them to be. It’s quite the opposite. Crispin Glover was for me the one that got away, just because his performance in ‘Back to the Future’ is one of the most comically iconic of all time. I was really bummed we couldn’t get Cate Blanchett or Hugo Weaving to do ‘Lord of the Rings.’

“But I always try.”

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