Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping | |
---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
Directed by | |
Produced by |
|
Written by |
|
Starring |
|
Music by | Matthew Compton |
Cinematography | Brandon Trost |
Edited by |
|
Production
companies |
|
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date
|
|
Running time
|
86 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $20 million |
Box office | $9.5 million |
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Soundtrack album by The Lonely Island | ||||
Released | June 3, 2016 | |||
Studio | Universal Studios Republic Records |
|||
Length | 48:53 | |||
Label | Popstar Soundtrack Republic Universal |
|||
The Lonely Island chronology | ||||
|
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a 2016 American mockumentary comedy film directed by Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone and written, produced by and starring Andy Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone. Also produced by Judd Apatow, it co-stars Sarah Silverman, Tim Meadows, Imogen Poots, Joan Cusack and Maya Rudolph.
The film was released on June 3, 2016 by Universal Pictures and received generally positive reviews from critics but grossed just $9.5 million against a budget of $20 million.
Told in the form of musical documentary, Conner Friel (Andy Samberg) is a musical prodigy at an early age, and he forms a rap group, The Style Boyz, with his childhood friends Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer) and Owen (Jorma Taccone). They almost instantly gain fame in the music industry, inspiring many of today's musicians. However, failing to receive credit for writing Conner's guest verse on the Poppy-winning single "Turn Up the Beef", Lawrence leaves. After the Style Boyz disband, Conner becomes a solo act, taking on the name "Conner4Real", with Owen as his DJ. Lawrence begins farming in Colorado after a failed attempt at going solo. Conner's debut album, Thriller, Also, rockets to the top of the charts and Conner's fame increases. In 2015, Conner releases his sophomore album, Connquest, which receives terrible reviews due to Conner using hundreds of producers rather than Owen's beats. With sales surprisingly low, Conner's manager, Harry (Tim Meadows), suggests having Aquaspin, a manufacturer that makes home appliances, sponsor the tour. The company's appliances begin playing Conner's songs when in use, causing a nationwide power outage that generates a wave of backlash among Conner's fans.
Conner begins his album tour, but the shows do not sell as well as he had hoped. Harry suggests they hire hip-hop artist Hunter the Hungry (Chris Redd) as an opening act, and the ticket sales begin to rise. Conner starts to add new gimmicks to his act, including a robotic mask for Owen, publicizing his relationship with actress Ashley Wednesday (Imogen Poots), and a stage trick where he changes costumes in seconds behind a curtain. The trick is seemingly botched in Nashville, when Conner becomes naked mid-concert, thus becoming the subject of mockery. Conner's publicist, Paula (Sarah Silverman), suggests he pull another publicity stunt to deflect attention from his humiliation. Conner decides to propose to Ashley on live TV, with a display including a number of trained wolves and a performance by Seal. The music agitates the wolves and they break loose, mauling Seal and the attendees. The backlash against Conner grows, and Ashley breaks up with him and starts dating Seal, who sues Conner for his injuries.