The internet got very excited yesterday with the strongly-rumoured news – strongly-rumoured in that it came from the band’s own frontman – that Jack Black was slated to star in the forthcoming Weezer film. But then the internet had to get very un-excited about it because it has now been confirmed from a spokesperson for the band that Jack Black is not slated to star in the forthcoming Weezer film.
But let’s go from the beginning. Or at least the middle: during their performance at Coachella a few weeks ago, Weezer frontman announced, “We’ve been busy making the Weezer movie in LA but when Coachella called us up and said, ‘Hey Weezer, could you guys make it out for a surprise appearance?’, we were like, ‘Heck yeah!’.”
The following week news surfaced that the film would be a mockumentary with Keanu Reeves starring at the villain, one theory going that the premise would pitch the Point Break and John Wick star’s band Dogstar against Rivers Cuomo and co. There is some history between the two bands: Weezer played their first gig opening for Dogstar in LA in 1992, a show the two bands re-created at the city’s Lodge Room venue last year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Weezer’s Blue Album.
The news that School Of Rock star Black, whose own band Tenacious D have also played with Weezer, had also joined the cast was seemingly confirmed when Cuomo shared a mock-up poster for the film with Black as one of its main subjects on Weezer’s Discord with the title “Weezer – Co-Starring Jack Black”. Underneath he wrote, “Nope, it’s real.”
Hence everyone assuming Cuomo wasn’t pulling a prank – he was a few week’s late for April Fool’s Day, after all – and getting all excited at what an A-list cast the purported Weezer film was pulling together. But then said band spokesperson nipped it in the bud. It wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility though that Cuomo jumped the gun on the announcement and was forced to temporarily backtrack. These film types love a bit of smoke and mirrors. One way or another, we’ll find out who’s in the film when it comes out, whenever that may be.
