Lonely Island Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Stopping: New Movie Title Revealed

Stop the presses! The Lonely Island comedy trio featuring Andy Samberg has a full-length feature set to hit movie theaters in June. Until now, a title had not been made public. Samberg appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to reveal to the world the name of his team’s latest venture would be Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. The film will be set in the music industry and, according to Collider, will star Samberg as rapper/performer Connor4Real. The film will be co-directed by the other two members of Lonely Island, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. The official poster was tweeted out by Lonely Island’s official Twitter account.

POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING – !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! June 3rd! Let's go! #Popstar pic.twitter.com/mFRxQToB0P

— The Lonely Island (@thelonelyisland) March 1, 2016

Aside from Lonely Island writing, directing, and starring in the film, another interesting tidbit that should add a level of comic intrigue is that Judd Apatow will be producing the movie. Samberg will be headlining the cast that will also feature Sarah Silverman, Maya Rudolph, Mike Birbiglia, Tim Meadows, and Imogen Poots. Silverman is fresh off her hilarious appearance at the Oscars, Meadows is a recurring featured performer in The Goldbergs, and Poots stars in Knight of Cups, Terrence Malick’s latest set for release this weekend. According to Deadline, Meadows will star as Connor4Real’s “overworked but constantly upbeat” manager.

Kimmel accurately described Andy Samberg’s pose in the poster as “Bieber-y,” as Samberg’s Connor4Real is faced with a crisis after his sophomore album fails to live up to the hype of his debut project. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping will likely have a similar “mockumentary” feel as that of 7 Days in Hell, Samberg’s most recent fictional documentary about a seven-day long tennis match that aired on HBO.

Collectively, the Lonely Island trifecta wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the hilariously iconic “Digital Shorts” that aired on Saturday Night Live. They’ve also produced web-based skits, music videos, and comedy albums, but this will be the group’s first big-screen effort in which all three are the film’s main primaries (writer, producer, star). Taccone’s biggest claim to fame as a director is 2010’s MacGruber, the Will Forte vehicle spawned from the SNL skits. Schaffer, meanwhile, has directed The Watch and Hot Rod, the latter of which starred both Samberg and Taccone.

Samberg revealed (tongue-in-cheek, of course) on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping might not have been their first choice for the film’s title.

“We pitched other names to the studio. I pitched them ‘Gremlins 3’ and they said no. I was like alright, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.”

Lonely Island brought fans such gems as “I Just Had Sex” and “I’m on a Boat,” so a movie about a pop star/rapper forced to reunite with his boy band after a flopped second album should provide for some quality summertime humor. Samberg has kept it rather tame, albeit funny, on his FOX sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, so a feature film on the silver screen should allow him and his Lonely Island cohorts to stretch the envelope a bit more.

Recently, Deadline also reported that FOX has decided to throw its hat back in the late-night comedy ring by teaming up with the Lonely Island to produce Party Over Here, a sketch comedy show that will begin airing March 12. Lonely Island will executive produce the show that will not be in direct competition with their former employer, Saturday Night Live, as Party Over Here will air for a half hour from 11-11:30 p.m. Ever the jokesters, here’s what Lonely Island had to say about it.

“When we first conceived this idea, we thought of it as a spinoff of Empire. We failed miserably… now it’s much more of a sketch comedy show.”

[Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]