Genre: Comedy/Musical.
Studio:
Universal.
Production Company:
Universal Pictures/MEC Blues Productions.
Project Phase: In the Can.
Who's In It:
Dan Aykroyd (Elwood Blues); John Goodman (Mighty Max McTeer);
Joe Morton (Cabel Chamberlain); Aretha Franklin; Nia Peeples (Lieutenant Elizondo); Paul Bartel;
J. Evan Bonifant (Buster); James Brown (Reverend Cleophus James); Steve Lawrence;
Frank Oz (Corrections Officer); Kathleen Freeman (Mother Mary
Stigmata); Matt Murphy, Willie Hall, Lou Marini, Donald Dunn, Steve
Cropper, Tom Malone, Alan Rubin, Murphy Dunne (Themselves as the
Blues Brothers Band); Frank Oz (Prison Warden); Steve Lawrence (Maury Sline);
Erykah Badu (Queen Mousette); Darrell Hammond (Robertson); Aretha Franklin (Mrs. Murphy);
James Brown (Reverend Cleophus James) B.B. King (Malvern Gasperon).
Who's Making It:
John Landis (Director); Dan Aykroyd, John Landis (Screenwriters); John Landis,
Dan Ackroyd, Leslie Belzberg (Producers); David Herrington (Director
of Photography); Dale Beldin (Editor); Bill Brodie
(Production Designer); Deborah Nadoolman (Costume Designer);
Paul Shaffer (Musical Score); Barry Lather (Choreography).
Premise: Eighteen years after the events of the first film, Elwood Blues is out of jail yet again, and finds himself put on another Mission From God to raise money for a good cause. But added into the confusion is the surfacing of Jake's long-lost Blues brother Cabel...who's grown up to be a by-the-book police officer.
Release Date: February 6, 1998.
Comments: The question comes up as with any sequel: Why? The film was the first of the SNL spinoffs, and probably the most successful until Wayne's World. Dan's not doing too badly either - he's got an Oscar nomination under his belt. So why revisit the Blues Brothers? The answer is probably quite simple - Aykroyd and Landis were sitting around, having coffee, when suddenly they both began to glow with an unearthly blue light. They both said in unison: "The band!" And the rest is history.
Or something like that.
Rumors: Unknown.
Scoop Feedback:
June 1996 - July 1997... [We've been tracking this film for a loooong time, and wanted to get a page up for it when it suddenly went on the fast track. Of course, saying that and actually doing it are two different things - so our own Blues Bro 'widgett' stepped in and wrote this page up - and while he was wearing sunglasses, too.]
[Nevertheless, thanks to the many other Brothers and Sisters who helped contribute to this page: Tommy Lyle, 'Sweet Home Chicago', 'tralexis', 'Cheap Trick', 'Maverick', 'Striker', 'nneft', 'Mr. Orange', 'exidor', 'cnickell', 'Mcfly539', 'rancid', ZENtertainment, 'XJBrooksX', 'j-bear', Mel, 'lofiloser', 'Billyclub9', 'drewcc', 'Professor Whitemountain', 'Professor Dave', 'smacnaug', 'war', Sean Olson and the many anonymous senders out there!]
July 22, 1997... The original trio of new Brothers had to be trimmed down due to James Belushi's committment to a television series. According to one source, because there's only one actor who could ever play Joliet Jake, we find out in the sequel that Jake passed away while Elwood was in prison. Item of note: James Belushi's character was to be called Brother Z.
The budget for the film is reported to be $31 million, which is incidentally $4 million more than the original.
Filming is underway in Toronto and Chicago. [Scoop submitted by 'widgett,' who misses Cab Calloway.]
'Catblack' had this to say about the sequel:
"Now, IMHO, that it could be really good, *IF* they don't ignore some the newer band that are in the same 'vibe' as the stuff on the original's soundtrack. Doubtless, Ackroyd in sure 'shoot yerself in the houseofblues/foot' form,, will opt to use aging soul musicians to provide a listless soundtrack." [Sent in by 'Catblack'.]
This fellow heard that, among the cameo celebrity singers you'll see in the film will be blues legends James Brown and B.B. King. [Provided by 'XJBrooksX'.]
"Anyway, in Kingston, Ontario (Dan Ackroyd's home for part of the year) they're going to be filming in a car dealership. The showroom is going to be stocked with Cadillacs, and the dealer is supposed to be Aretha Franklin. This was all in our local newspaper (Whig-Standard.) [Info sent in anonymously.]
When James Belushi had to pass on the Elwood half-brother role, rumor had it Charles S. Dutton would be playing the character now (and who may be called Brother Rock now.) Instead, Dutton passed on the gig and in stepped Joe Morton (best known for his work on Brother From Another Planet and as Miles Dyson in Terminator 2: Judgement Day.) But all we've heard is that Morton's character is the Jake's long-lost half-brother Cabel, who's a by-the-book police officer. Uh oh. [Scoop sent in by 'Billyclub9' and 'XJBrooksX'.]
Then this anonymous scoop came rollin' in, written on paper with the 'Sister Mary Catherine's' nunnery logo embossed on it...
"Plot for the film centres around the Blues Brothers racing to save a sick young Chicago boy by 'road-tripping' down to New Orleans to see a mystical voodoo doctor. To pay their way they reunite the Blues Brothers band to do some gigs.
"Producers promise lots of wrecked cars (at least as many as the first film) a fact that, according to my sources, is making it very difficult for the producers to find insurance for certian key sequences.
"Shooting begins first week of June in Toronto, Canada for a 1998, quite possibly a 1999 release date.
"The Blues Brothers band will tour to promote both the film and the album that will be released simultaneously. Rumours I've heard say that the film will be released to celebrate the new millenium which would make a 1999 release date more logical...but to have a completed print sit on the shelf for that long!?
"These rumours come from two friends who are involved with the film in Toronto this summer. One will be a production assistant, the other is a dancer playing a major role in one of the choreographed sequences. I'll keep you posted!" [Sent in anonymously.]
Sixteen-year-old blues phenomenon Jonny Lang just got his first movie job. He goes to Toronto in a few weeks to film a part for the new Blues Brothers movie. Lang told the New York Post he'll be doing a song in it with Wilson Pickett. [Submitted by 'Bandaddy'.]
July 29, 1997... A very hip scoop just got sent in to our mailbox from someone who's worked on the set of the picture and who may have broken the seal on some big musical news about who may be on the film's soundtrack:
"I was an extra for Blues Brothers 2000 a week ago Friday up here in Markham, Ontario (about 20 minutes outside of Toronto). They were filming a Local County Fair scene set in Kentucky complete with two big monster trucks. We started filming at 9 PM and went right through until 5 AM.
"The entire Blues Brothers band was there for the entire night and entertained up in-between scenes. Yes, Dan and John were there as was the new Blues Brother, Evan Bonafont (from Three Ninjas). Dan didn't look very happy for most of the night, refusing most autograph requests. One of the security guards mentioned that Dan is really upset that Belushi isn't involved with the movie, and since he signed on before Belushi dropped out, he was obligated to do the film even though he didn't want to do it without Belushi.
"Director John Landis was there for the entire evening and we had a six camera setup. They filmed some monster truck scenes and then spent the rest of the night filming a live musical number from the band.
"The song involved the 'Ghost Riders' which were going to come out of the sky. Goodman and Dan sang to a pre-recorded track, and then the new Brother, Evan, played on his harmonica in a great solo and joined in on the song (complete with the trademark hat and sunglasses). We had to survive large wind machines and fake rain because the 'Ghost Riders' bring incliment weather when they arrive.
"It was a fun experience. Landis mentioned they filmed the movie in Canada because it shaves about $10 million off their budget because of the exchange rate. They are going to be filming through the end of August around the Toronto area.
"The big scoop: there are some major bands involved with the movie thanks to Paul Shaffer being the musical director. The Rolling Stones will be in the movie as will Eric Clapton and some other A-list musical talent. Should be an interesting movie when it comes out!" [Sent in by Ola.]
August 9, 1997... A few days ago, Dan Ackroyd and Bruce Willis were seen in downtown Kingston lounging on a bench and just hanging out with the regular folk. Also of note is unknown actor Gillian Scobie who is supposed to have a small part in the film, perhaps as an inmate; Scobie is one of this scooper's friends, and so was able to tell the scooper about her part. Some scenes are to be shot (or may already have been) in and around some of the local prisons ("Kingston has many," the scooper proudly mentions.) A place called the Taylor Auto Mall has decided against letting the movie film a key sequence there; the shoot would take about two days to do, during which time the Auto Mall would have to closed and relocate all their cars - which leads one to wonder if the producers don't have another mall car chase sequence rolled up their sleeve. In that case we can see why the owners of the Taylor complex were so hesitant! [Scoop provided by 'brendon2'.]
August 26, 1997... "Saw a new print of the original The Blues Brothers at Radio City Music Hall in NYC Saturday (23rd) night with about 1000 other fools. Anyway, before the film started (and after a stupid preview for The Jackal), we got what was, I guess, as close as anyone has seen to a preview of BB2K (Hey! I just came up with that. Or should it be 2B2K? Whatever.)" (Actually, we kinda dig the BB2K one - run with it.
"Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues is standing in front of the red brick wall of an empty warehouse. Clapboard comes on the screen. We hear '3-2-1-Action'. Board claps and is taken away. Flames begin rising in the windows of the warehouse behind Elwood.
"Elwood: 'Welcome to Radio City Music Hall for a special screening of a new 70mm print of The Blues Brothers. I hope you enjoy seeing the film the way it was meant to be seen. I wish I could be there, but I'm busy shooting Blues Brothers 2000 right now. It picks up right where the first film left off - but 18 years later.'
"He says some more stuff I don't remember, and we hear 'Cut', and stagehands rush to the windows to put out the flames with fire extinguishers.
"All in all, it was pretty stupid. The audience was basically split between not really caring and booing. (That doesn't bode well, when you consider that this was a crowd of people who had shelled out $12.50 each to see a movie that was on TNT within 24 hours of the screening). No one really seemed that pleased, though I heard half a dozen people murmur about how thin Aykroyd looked. He clearly had lost weight for the role, but he wasn't THAT thin. I can't remember if he mentioned that John Goodman was in it or anyone else. Didn't really mention the plot. And it was just the rough single shot I described. No studio bumpers, artwork, editing, or anything. Lasted between 1 and 2 minutes. Looks like they literally pulled Aykroyd aside for a few minutes and shot it.
"Not too exciting, but I'm sure people who weren't there would want to know. The movie was as good as ever, though the crowd was a little lackluster (they didn't even sing along to Minnie the Moocher!)" WHAT!? [Report mailed to us by Michael Kingsley.]
January 10, 1998... "Just got back from a sneak preview at Universal Studios. It was better than I expected, but a lot of the time, especially near the start, it seemed to try too hard to be the first film. Replace Illinois Nazis with some wacky Russian Mafia guys, make Arethra Franklin sing 'Respect' again, and so on. Once they got the band together (finally), it was very enjoyable. Aside from the Russian Mafia characters (who weren't particularly entertaining), my only other complaint is the use of FX in the film. Off the top of my head, I can think of 4 times when digital FX were used, and in each case it was pretty pointless and stupid, and only detracted from the film. They would have been much better off without them. Oh, for the record, the shoestring of a plot has Elwood getting out of prison, finding out Jake's dead, then going back to his favorite nun to whine. She sticks him to be a mentor to a 10 year old kid, and wackiness ensues. Soon, he's drawing the band back together so they can go to New Orleans and play in a battle of the bands. So, in other words, the plot is even less than in the first one." [Review submitted by 'Arr'.]
Official Web Site: www.blues-brothers-2000.com