Donald Faison says he wants to do a Josie and the Pussycats spinoff movie focusing on the boy band DuJour, which his character was a part of. The 2001 movie, based on the band that originally appeared in the Archie comics, was a sharp satire. It took on everything that typified the vapid state of late-90s popular culture, from the music business to product placement and the idea that MTV was a soulless shadow of its former self. At the time of its release it was a dismal failure at the box office, as the satirical elements didn't land with its intended audience, who were the same people the movie was mocking for being pawns to corporate pop culture. However, the movie has since gained a cult following.
The movie starred Rachel Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid as the titular band, who have since been rebooted on Riverdale, and also featured memorable performances from Seth Green, Breckin Meyer Alexander Martin and Faison as the clueless members of a boy band, clearly based on the Backstreet Boys, called DuJour. Seemingly killed off in the first few minutes of the movie, they return at the climax to reveal that MegaRecords is placing subliminal messages in Josie and the Pussycats' music. Faison was particularly funny as DJ the DJ in DuJour.
Now, Faison has said on his podcast, Fake Doctors, Real Friends, which he co-hosts with his former Scrubs co-star and best friend Zack Braff, that he wants to do a spinoff of the movie focusing on a reunion tour by DuJour. Faison's idea would be to do a new satire movie that riffs on the slate of old boy bands like Backstreet Boys and New Edition, who are now doing slightly sad reunion tours as middle-aged men. You can read this thoughts below.
That would be a good movie to come out -- the DuJour reunion. Backstreet's going on tour, New Edition's going on tour, all these major bands from back in the day are going on tour. DuJour should go on tour and see if they can rekindle the light that they had when they were popular in Riverdale.
Faison, who played Turk on Scrubs, also sang a snippet of the song "DuJour Around The World", the track that opens Josie and the Pussycats, on the podcast, proving that he is still a fan of the movie. The thought is interesting, but also a little far-fetched. While Faison, Green and Meyer are still active on television, with Green and Meyer very involved in all 10 seasons of Robot Chicken, they're no longer movie stars, so it could be a hard sell.
However, a streaming service like Netflix could be the place for this kind of movie. They've shown they are willing to take a bet on small, quirky comedies, and there would be little risk in making the film with a small budget. There is certainly great comedic potential for the movie, which could riff not only on how the music business has changed in the past two decades, but could also satirize the reunion tours undertaken by boy bands from the 1990s and early 2000s in recent years.
There's potential for the original stars of Josie and the Pussycats to return too, perhaps in a cameo. A movie that trots out Faison, Green and Meyer as faded middle-aged pop stars desperate to reunite for one last big payday is certainly a funny premise, and would likely find a more receptive audience than the original did 19 years ago.
Source: Fake Doctors, Real Friends