Very probaby, but it’s a slow day and Beastie Boy fansite Mic-To-Mic reminds us of an interesting movie related story we had totally forgotten about.
Back in May, 1997, Entertainment Weekly dropped a news item about the Beastie Boys starring in a Spike Jonze-directed comedy, called “We Can Do This,” which was supposed to be a cross between “Zelig” and their wacky video for “Sabotage” (also visualized by Jonze). “Zelig,” for those that forget was about a human chameleon Leonard Zelig, who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act exactly like whoever is around him (sounds C. Kaufman-esque, no?)
The piece is here. Entertainment Weekly (May 2, 1997) stated the following: “Nascent matinee idols the Beastie Boys (Adam Yauch, Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz) have teamed with director Spike Jonze and are set to star in their first feature film, a comedy tentatively titled “We Can Do This.” Scripted by the group and Jonze, the film is set to begin production this summer (1997). A source close to the project describes the movie as a lot like Woody Allen’s “Zelig” crossed with the parodic ’70s cop-show spirit of “Sabotage,” and says there will be a number of surprise guest stars.”
The project never came to fruition (though their first attempt at a movie, the 1987-era’d “Scared Stupid,” did go as far as a script stage, but then got cockblocked by Rick Rubin who owned the rights to all the music at the time.)
But Mic To Mic recently noticed some strange activity revolving around the film (that they also think could possibly be a leftover April Fool’s joke?).
The film project has resurfaced as an announced/in development project. Both the New York Times and Hollywood.com have recently listed the films in their databases. Is this a mistake or has the dust really been blown off the project? In either case, it’s interesting that this news has resurfaced so close to the premiere of Adam Yauch’s film “Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot.”
Seems like a pretty odd way to market a new film. There’s no info on it over at Yauch’s Oscilloscope Pictures, nor is there anything on IMDB or Wikipedia. And as many as their comments section suggests, this is probably old news mistaken as new news and or wishful thinking, but either way, remember when?
At least if Jonze somehow does get kicked off “Where The Wild Things Are” he’ll have something to fall back on. This also might be a decent moment to re-mention our imaginary Spike Jonze playlist.