Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
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A musical prodigy's quest for solo stardom leads to a series of increasingly absurd and humiliating publicity stunts.
The story
Conner Friel, a musical prodigy, forms a pop rap group called "The Style Boyz" with childhood friends Lawrence Dunn and Owen Bouchard. The group achieves instant fame, but internal tensions arise when Lawrence leaves after feeling uncredited for a pivotal verse. Conner transitions to a solo career as "Conner4Real," supported by Owen as his DJ. While his debut album is a massive success, his follow-up album is a commercial disaster. To save his career, Conner's manager suggests a corporate sponsorship that leads to a nationwide power outage, setting the stage for a chaotic tour filled with bizarre gimmicks and public humiliations.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After his second album 'Connquest' fails, Conner's manager Harry secures a sponsorship with Aquaspin, causing a nationwide power outage. During his subsequent tour, Conner adds gimmicks like a robotic mask for Owen and a relationship with actress Ashley Wednesday. However, a botched stunt in Nashville leaves him exposed and mocked. To deflect, he proposes to Ashley on E! with Party Wolves, but the wolves break loose, mauling everyone including Seal, who sues him. Ashley leaves him for Seal. Owen tries to reunite the original group, but Conner refuses to acknowledge Lawrence's contributions. As Hunter the Hungry, an opening act, begins to eclipse Conner's career, Conner discovers Harry has signed him as a rival and fires Harry. After a series of personal failures, including his pet turtle's death and Owen quitting, Conner reconciles with both friends in Colorado. They decide to reunite the Style Boyz for a performance at the Poppys, where Conner reflects on the value of holding onto relationships.
- First release year
- 2016
- Runtime (minutes)
- 87
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Akiva Schaffer; Jorma Taccone
- Writers
- Andy Samberg · writer; Akiva Schaffer · writer; Jorma Taccone · writer
- Cast and characters
- Andy Samberg · Conner "Kid Conner" Friel / Conner4Real; Jorma Taccone · Owen "Kid Contact" Bouchard; Akiva Schaffer · Lawrence "Kid Brain" Dunn; Sarah Silverman · Paula Klein; Tim Meadows · Harry Duggins; Maya Rudolph · Deborah; Joan Cusack · Tilly Friel; Imogen Poots · Ashley Wednesday
- Genres
- mockumentary; musical comedy
- Themes
- fame; friendship; betrayal; publicity
- Tone and mood
- satirical; vulgar; surreal; deadpan
- Premise and plot tags
- mockumentary; music industry satire; publicity stunts
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has since developed a cult following, despite being a box-office bomb.
- Reported review scores
- CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The production filmed at The Forum for 11 days.; Samberg introduced Maroon 5 at the Honda Center while in character.; The film was advertised on YouTube the month of its release date.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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