The Lonely Island Revisit 2016's 'Popstar' at 10, Reflecting on a Box-Office Miss Turned Cult Hit
Updated
Updated · IndieWire · Jun 5
The Lonely Island Revisit 2016's 'Popstar' at 10, Reflecting on a Box-Office Miss Turned Cult Hit
3 articles · Updated · IndieWire · Jun 5
Summary
Ten years after “Popstar: Never Stop, Never Stopping,” Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone said the 2016 mockumentary was built as their most ambitious project yet, combining comedy music, friendship and pop-star satire.
Judd Apatow helped steer the film toward the trio’s real-life bond, they said, while songs were written before the script and a sprawling production generated about 300 hours of footage and a 300-page story bible.
The group said the movie’s commercial failure was painful but not shocking: it recouped less than half its budget, and they felt marketing pushed it too close to a Justin Bieber spoof rather than their broader pop-industry satire.
That disappointment later gave way to a stronger afterlife, with the trio saying fans now treat “Popstar” as a modern comedy cult favorite and its songs and jokes still circulate a decade on.