What That Secret Lonely Island Movie Is About

Late last week, news came out of the Cannes Film Market announcing that Judd Apatow was teaming up with the men from The Lonely Island to make a feature film. What that news lacked, however, was a firm title for the project, or a description of what the movie will be about. Well, you need not wonder any longer, as plot details for the feature have just become public.

Deadline has the scoop on the name of the project, referring to it as Conner4real. In the movie, Andy Samberg will be playing the titular Conner, who sees his life start coming apart at the seems when his new album completely bombs. As a means of trying to bounce back after his immense failure, he tries to get the members of his old boy band back together for a reunion. Samberg's Lonely Island cohorts Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer will be playing the other two members of the boy band, but that will actually be one of two jobs they have on the production, given that they are attached to the project as co-directors.

The report says that Conner4real will take "a potshot at fluffy music documentaries including Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Katy Perry: Part Of Me." What's unclear is whether or not this means that the film will be made as a documentary, or if it's going with a more traditional format.

Obviously The Lonely Island trio won't be the only actors featured in the film, and according to The Wrap the project has actually already picked up a few talented co-stars. Sarah Silverman will be playing Conner's "sarcastic publicist," while Tim Meadows is going to play the star's extremely overworked but relentlessly positive business manager. Imogen Poots is also attached to join the production, though exactly what her role would be in the movie is unclear at this point.

Conner4real could possibly be a big win for the Lonely Island trio - which notably hasn't had a ton of success at the box office. Though they have both developed cult followings, neither of Akiva Schaffer's previous directorial efforts - Hot Rod and The Watch - managed to do any significant business. Likewise, Jorma Taccone's first time helming a feature was Macgruber, which a notable flop when it came out in 2010. This new film could be a chance at redemption.

Production on Conner4real has already begun in Los Angeles, and while Universal is attached to the project, a release date has not yet been carved out. Given the scheduling of filming, however, it's likely that the movie will find its way to a theater near you sometime in the spring or summer of 2016. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.