Andy Samberg’s ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ Looks Like a Mockumentary of Justin Bieber’s Fall From Fame

It was not explicit, but it appears that SNL star Andy Sanberg is set to make a mockumentary on Justin Bieber’s pop legacy.

According to Buzzfeed, the film is a “poignant” “mockumentary” of Justin Bieber’s rise and fall to fame. Andy Samberg had the perfect plot for the movie and he portrayed it very well. There was a balance of angst, swag, arrogance and the alleged talent of his popstar character, Conner 4 Real.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping had many references to Justin Bieber’s Believe release. In the movie, Conner 4 Real was a former band member who went solo. Though his band formally disintegrated, he kept his two band mates on his entourage.

According to E! News, it was a spoiler to all popstar fans out there, especially for the Beliebers. It does not only spoof every aspect of Hollywood’s spoiled brats, but it also shows the fake lives these idols have.

More than just a comedy flick, what made Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping a success was its uncanny similarities to Justin Bieber’s entire popstar career.

There were scenes like when Conner 4 Real went to Anne Frank’s house and took a poop, the scene where he was snapping his “skateboard skills” and many more that felt exactly like Justin Bieber.

Don’t dismiss this comedy just yet because it’s a Justin Bieber parody. It actually received raving reviews from Rotten Tomatoes amassing to 72 percent score, 20 points higher than the romance flick Me Before You. It also surpassed the 35 percent “Rotten” score of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

Aside from that, Andy Sandberg’s band, Lonely Island, is the mind behind the entire movie. Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone directed the entire film and the three of them, including Sandberg, wrote the entire movie. In total, the film grossed $4.6 million from 2,311 locations. Since the movie is going to be aired on TV, some fans might have waited for the TV release instead.

The marketing for the film was also abysmal. There were YouTube trailers, billboards and TV ads, but it is not as big as the other Universal productions. According to The Wrap, it could be because the production is counting on the digital short to run on SNL. With the SNL stint, they would have a more stable audience size.

Some argue that the film did not really have a target audience to begin with because the Y-Gens would not bother to watch the movie because they are already too “grown up” to be watching a Justin Bieber parody. On the other hand, the X-Gen has a younger idol set so they wouldn’t care either.

However, the Emmy award winning actor pursued the movie because they really wanted to have an avenue where they could write comedy music. They were actually praised for making the “awful” songs work in the movie.

“It’s actually kind of freeing to have the context of [Conner4Real’s] album doing badly and that people don’t like the songs, because it kind of frees you up to do the silliest songs you can think of. And they don’t have to be ‘bad,’ they just have to be … ill-advised. You know, ‘I’m so humble being so braggy about being humble,’ or any of the other ones with their various offensive or ridiculous premises.”

To get a sneak peak on the movie, watch the trailer below. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is now available in theaters.

[Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Sonos]