'N
Sync: The Movie
by Mark Armstrong
Apr 29, 2000, 12:55 PM
PT
The trip
from vinyl to celluloid is littered with bodies. Ah, Spice Girls, Vanilla Ice we
hardly knew ya.
But leave
it to those megadreamy boys in 'N Sync to
try, anyway. In the great tradition of bands turned big-screen successes like
the Beatles, and, um, the Beatles, Justin, JC, Lance, Joey and Chris this week
announced a deal with Total Film Group and their own Phat Free Productions to
launch their first film, to begin shooting next year.
The title
and storyline are being kept secret for now, and other details about the project
are sketchy. But word is the quintet will not be playing themselves for the
project.
In a
statement announcing the big news, Total Film Group Chairman and CEO Gerald
Green said (and without a shred of sarcasm): " 'N Sync is an international
music treasure. By turning to film, they will give their fans around the world a
new medium in which to enjoy their remarkable talents. Now, 'N Sync's 'N
film!"
Golden
Raspberry Award voters, take notice. No matter how much 'N Sync fans hope
otherwise, pop-music darlings have historically lobbed themselves into
made-to-stink films. Most recently, the Spice Girls lured famous faces like
Roger Moore, George Wendt and Meat Loaf to show up in the group's 1998 film,
Spice World, but the flick (working title: It's
Been a Hard 15 Minutes) still bombed.
It's
unfair to doom 'N Sync's film to failure, but it may be getting off to an
equally ominous start--producers will announce more film details during an 'N
Sync appearance May 16 at the Cannes Film Festival. (The Spice Girls also made
its grand announcement at Cannes).
Other
hugely popular groups have taken more modest steps in their road to acting--the
Jackson 5 and 'N Sync's prefab predecessors New Kids on the Block
settled for goofy Saturday-morning cartoons. And still other recording
artists have made do with less, like voice-over guest spots on Scooby
Doo.
Then
again, someone like Mama Cass never sold a record-breaking
2.4 million albums in one week. 'N Sync could be ripe for the big screen,
having sold almost five million copies of its third album, No
Strings Attached, in just five weeks.
And most
'N Sync-heads know the boys already have blossoming acting résumés. Lance made
his acting debut on the WB's 7th Heaven,
and Joey created an acting handbook for students with the help of his former
drama coach. Justin proved his true thespian worth by having to compete for
attention opposite Kathie Lee Gifford and
her son, Cody, in the recent ABC TV flick, Model
Behavior. And let's not forget about Justin and JC's stint on The
Mickey Mouse Club in 1992.
Meanwhile,
the group will have cameo roles in the upcoming indie film Jack
of All Trades, cowritten and produced by the band's founder and ex-manager,
Lou Perlman.