Jack Black Officially Going Back to 'School of Rock'
Filed under: Comedy, Music & Musicals, Deals, Paramount, Scripts, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
It's official! According to Variety, the School of Rock band is getting back together. Jack Black is returning to reprise his role as Dewey Finn, Richard Linklater will be sitting in the director's chair again, and Mike White is writing the script. Talk of a sequel has been flying for weeks, so this really comes as no surprise. In School of Rock 2: America Rocks, Finn will lead a group of summer school students on a cross-country field trip that delves into the history of rock and roll. Expect lots of cameos as the students study the roots of blues, rap, and country. I'm putting my money on B.B. King already and Snoop Dogg. Maybe Bono and Bruce Springsteen, too. (Actually, that would be pretty cool.)
I'm of two minds on this. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the first movie; in fact think it was probably the first Jack Black movie I actually liked. But does it really lend itself to a sequel? While it's encouraging that the entire team is coming back, we all know that's never a guarantee of comedic success. How many awesome comedy sequels can you name?
Plus, there was that whole story about White weeping as he wrote the script. I'm still weirded out by that. Barring a fiery schoolbus crash, or the children discovering that Britney Spears was allowed to cover the Rolling Stones, why would you shed tears? Hmm. I think my official position has shifted from lukewarm to DO NOT WANT. What about you?









Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-14-2008 @ 9:29AM
techstar25 said...
Bottom line is.. I believe in the Mike White, Rich Linklater, Jack Black trio.
I'm hoping that White didn't try to shoe-horn in the kids from the old movie. It sounds like, and I'm hoping for an all new adventure from Dewey and Ned. This could be their "Empire Strikes Back".
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7-14-2008 @ 10:34AM
Mike said...
I felt the same way about the original. Didn't think I'd like it because I didn't like anything Black had previously done, but ended up loving it.
The one thing that I think will be especially hard to duplicate the second time around is the relationship with the kids. Those child actors all did a great job. Linklater's follow-up, The Bad News Bears remake, wasn't nearly as successful. I'd hate for the sequel to be as forgettable as that remake.
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7-14-2008 @ 12:06PM
Christian Toto said...
This has desperation written all over it ... yet Black's career is thriving. The original's sense of fun and adventure will be incredibly hard to duplicate. But White's "Year of the Dog" tanked, and perhaps this is his way of licking his wounds.
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7-14-2008 @ 2:58PM
Jonathan Kuhn said...
I for one am very excited. Loved the first one, and until I hear that the second is drastically different, I'll be looking forward to it.
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