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Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

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Wikipedia article




'Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping' is a 2016 American mockumentary musical 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 grossing just over $9 million, failing to meet its budget of $20 million. Despite this, it received positive reviews from critics and has developed a cult following.

Plot



Conner Friel is a musical prodigy at an early age, and he forms a pop rap group dubbed "The Style Boyz" with his childhood friends Lawrence Dunn and Owen Bouchard. They almost instantly gain fame in the music industry and inspire many of today's musicians. However, after 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 his fame increases. In 2015, Conner releases his sophomore album, 'Connquest', which is heavily panned due to his writing every single song himself and using hundreds of different producers rather than Owen's original beats. With sales surprisingly low, Conner's manager Harry suggests having Aquaspin, a home appliance manufacturer, 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 as an opening act, and the ticket sales begin to rise. Conner adds new gimmicks to his act, including a robotic mask for Owen, publicizing his relationship with actress Ashley Wednesday, and a stage trick where he changes costumes in seconds behind a curtain, which only works when Conner hides his penis behind his legs. Still, the trick is seemingly botched in Nashville, when Conner is exposed naked (without his penis visible) mid-concert and becomes the subject of mockery.

Conner's publicist, Paula Klein, 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 several trained wolves and a performance by Seal. Seal's vocals agitate the wolves, and they break loose, mauling the attendees. Seal fights off a wolf from experience, even saying his facial scar came from wolves. However, he, too, gets mauled seconds later. The backlash against Conner grows, and Ashley breaks up with him and starts dating Seal, who sues Conner for his injuries.

Worried about the declining quality of his friend's music, Owen sets up a meeting between himself, Conner, and Lawrence. The reunion ends poorly when Conner refuses to acknowledge that Lawrence wrote the track that launched his career. Despite Conner's poor reputation, 'The Tonight Show' agrees to book him on an episode. Host Jimmy Fallon suddenly invites Conner to perform the Style Boyz's hit song "Donkey Roll" with Owen, which the crowd received well despite Conner's reluctance.

As the tour progresses, Hunter overshadows Conner, selling more records than him and dragging out his act before Conner's show. At a concert, Hunter announces that he will perform as long as possible, causing Conner to rush to the stage. A brawl ensues when Hunter quietly admits that he orchestrated Conner's wardrobe malfunction. Conner demands that Harry let Hunter go and fires Harry after discovering he has signed Hunter. 'Connquest' is later knocked off the charts, and Aquaspin decides to pull their sponsorship. The remainder of the tour is canceled, and Owen decides to leave the team when Conner tests Owen and the entourage's loyalty by making them pancakes mixed with dog feces. After his beloved pet turtle Maximus dies, Conner sinks into a depression and moves back into his mother's house. He begins drinking heavily and starts selling crude horse drawings online.

Paula forces Conner to leave the house and takes him to a club featuring Owen. Owen's music and production are strong, though his singing is subpar. Conner and Owen reconcile and decide to finally make amends with Lawrence. Conner gives Lawrence his Poppy and apologizes, acknowledging Lawrence's contribution to his music. Conner and Owen discover that Lawrence owns a giant marijuana farm and a music studio in his farmhouse. As the three get high and collaborate in Lawrence's studio, Conner receives news from Paula that a six-minute slot has opened for Conner to perform at the Poppy Music Awards due to Taylor Swift being arrested for murder. With encouragement from his friends, he decides to reunite The Style Boyz.

At the Poppys, Hunter humiliates himself after arguing with Mariah Carey on stage, and Harry quits as Hunter's manager after being insulted by him. Conner reconciles with Harry and later finds out that the six-minute slot has been shortened to three, forcing him to perform either a Conner4Real song or a Style Boyz song. Conner decides to perform The Style Boyz's new song "Incredible Thoughts" featuring Michael Bolton. The film ends with Conner reflecting on his lessons and the value of holding onto relationships after reaching stardom. He introduces a new baby turtle named Maximus II before a wolf from Conner's disastrous proposal attacks him.

Cast



* Andy Samberg as Conner "Kid Conner" Friel / Conner4Real

** Evan Fine as ten-year-old Conner

* Jorma Taccone as Owen "Kid Contact" Bouchard, Conner's former bandmate and current DJ

** Maxwell Jenkins as ten-year-old Owen

* Akiva Schaffer as Lawrence "Kid Brain" Dunn, Conner's former bandmate and songwriter who became a farmer following the breakup

** Elliott Smith as ten-year-old Lawrence

* Sarah Silverman as Paula Klein, Conner's publicist

* Tim Meadows as Harry Duggins, Conner's manager

* Maya Rudolph as Deborah, a representative for Aquaspin

* Joan Cusack as Tilly Friel, Conner's mother

* Imogen Poots as Ashley Wednesday, Conner's girlfriend

* Chris Redd as Hunter the Hungry, an underground rapper who tours with Conner

Additionally, Edgar Blackmon and James Buckley appear as Eddie and Sponge respectively, members of Conner's entourage who serve as his yes men. Other members of Conner's staff include: Ashley Moore as Sarah, his personal assistant; Bill Hader as Zippy, a roadie; Danny Strong as his perspective manipulator; Will Forte as his bagpipe player; and Justin Timberlake as Tyrus Quash, Conner's chef. Timberlake was uncredited for the role.

Will Arnett, Eric Andr, Mike Birbiglia, and Chelsea Peretti portray CMZ reporters, a parody of TMZ. Kevin Nealon appears as photographer Gary Sikes, and Paul Scheer plays the wolf handler at Conner and Ashley's engagement ceremony. Emma Stone makes an uncredited cameo as Claudia Cantrell, a well-known pop singer who helped kickstart Conner's solo career, and "Weird Al" Yankovic appears as the lead singer of Hammerleg. The wives of Samberg, Taccone, and Schaffer all make brief appearances: Joanna Newsom (Samberg's wife) as Zippy's flatline doctor; Marielle Heller (Taccone's wife) as a member of Conner's documentary crew; and Liz Cackowski (Schaffer's wife) as the Poppies stage manager. Judd Apatow voices one of Conner's fans.

'Cameos as themselves'

* Akon

* ASAP Rocky

* Big Boy

* Michael Bolton

* Win Butler

* Mariah Carey

* Rgine Chassagne

* Simon Cowell

* Danger Mouse

* DJ Khaled

* Jimmy Fallon

* 50 Cent

* Steve Higgins

* Adam Levine

* Nas

* Pink

* Questlove

* The Roots

* RZA

* Seal

* Martin Sheen

* Snoop Dogg

* Ringo Starr

* Asa Taccone

* T.I.

* Carrie Underwood

* Usher

* Pharrell Williams

* Miley Cyrus

Production



Principal photography on the film began on May 14, 2015, announced by Universal Pictures under the working title 'Conner4real'.

Release



The movie was advertised on YouTube the month of its release date. On May 10, 2016, Samberg made an appearance on NBC's 'The Voice' in character as Conner4real to perform "I'm So Humble", alongside judge Adam Levine, and give answers to contestants in a farcical Q&A session. Samberg then made a guest appearance on the season 41 finale of 'Saturday Night Live', on May 21, 2016. Promoted as a new SNL Digital Short, he appeared in character as Conner4real and debuted a song from the movie ("Finest Girl"). Taccone and Schaffer received guest writing credits for the episode. The Lonely Island also released a video "I'm a Weirdo" to their YouTube channel, featuring conner4real rapping on the street.

The film was released in the United States on June 3, 2016, and in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2016, by Universal Pictures. It did not get an international release.

Soundtrack



The 'Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping' soundtrack album, performed by the Lonely Island, was released on June 3, 2016, the day of the film's release.

Track listing



Charts



Reception



Box office

In the United States, 'Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping' opened on June 3, 2016, alongside 'Me Before You' and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows' and was expected to gross around $7 million from 2,311 theaters in its opening weekend. The film grossed $322,000 from its Thursday previews and $1.8 million on its first day. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $4.6 million and finishing 8th at the box office. The film was a box office bomb, grossing just $9.5 million against its $20 million budget.

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 79% based on 175 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "'Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping' updates the rock mockumentary for the 21st century mainstream and hits many of its low-hanging targets with side-splitting impact." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Vince Mancini of 'Uproxx' gave the film a positive review, saying: "It's as stupid as it is relevant, and that layering of humor styles insightful satire, no-holds-barred vulgarity, irresistible juvenilia, surreal pop art, timeless deadpan are 'Popstar's hallmark. It's smart, dumb, silly, and gross in all the right ways. I loved it." David Palmer of 'The Reel Deal' gave the film 8/10, calling it the best comedy of 2016 and praised the songs. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of 'The A.V. Club' wrote: "No music mockumentary has really managed to reproduce 'This Is Spinal Tap's comic mojo, but 'Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping' gets closer than most to that subgenre-defining comedy's mix of the dead-on and the over-the-top, even if it tends to go for quantity over quality."

Home media

'Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping' was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 13, 2016. As of June 16, 2017, it had made $1.1 million in home media sales. Shout! Factory released the film on Blu-ray on November 12, 2019, which included the previous special features in a limited edition steelbook case.

Sequel



In 2022, Schaffer announced that a sequel to the film is not in the works, but is not off the table.

See also



*Blizzard Man - Samberg's SNL sketch about a questionable rapper.

References




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