The members of ‘NSYNC traveled to the Cannes Film Festival last May to announce – with maximum fanfare – that they planned to film a movie together. In October, the group’s Lance Bass revealed that the movie in question would “most likely” be “Grease 3.”
And in fact, the group had been working on a potential “Grease” sequel with the California production company Total Film Group, according to sources close to the project.
“I think if you had all five guys of ‘NSYNC, people really wouldn’t take the movie seriously.” – ‘NSYNC’s Lance Bass
But ‘NSYNC’s substantial clout has so far not been enough to obtain the rights to the “Grease” name and characters, the sources said, and the movie has been shelved.
Total Film Group is working to come up with another potential project to present to the ‘NSYNCers, and continues to try to rescue “Grease.”
But the time for a full-fledged ‘NSYNC movie, with all five members, may have passed, according to Lance Bass.
Instead of a group movie, a la the Beatles’ beloved “A Hard Day’s Night” or the Spice Girls’ ill-fated “Spice World,” Bass and fellow group member Joey Fatone have chosen to make their movie debuts without the rest of ‘NSYNC.
Bass will star and Fatone will appear in “On the Line” (originally called “On the L”), a romantic comedy due this September or October.
“I think if you had all five guys of ‘NSYNC, people really wouldn’t take the movie seriously,” Bass said recently from the film’s set. “This way, there’s a couple of us in it, and it’s a real movie. It really stands up on its own.”
The movie stars Bass as a fresh-from-college 20-something who works in an advertising agency. He meets the “woman of his dreams” on Chicago’s “L” train, but she leaves without giving him her name and number. Bass’ character spends the rest of the movie trying to track the woman down.
Bass and Fatone may contribute new music to the soundtrack, but no plans have been confirmed, according to a publicist for the movie, which is the first film project from Bass’ A Happy Place Productions.
“This is definitely a huge risk for me,” Bass said. “The thing is, my first job is music… If this doesn’t work for me, it’s not going to break me. Coming out [with] my first movie, [in] the lead role… it’s very insane. But you know, people are going to look at this and [know that] I’m doing this for my fans. The fans are going to love it.”
Fatone also filmed a supporting role last September in an upcoming independent movie, “The Bros.,” playing the victim of a crime spree.
The movie – which is expected to include cameos from rappers Ludacris and Vanilla Ice – is scheduled to be completed by summer. The filmmakers are searching for a distributor, according to writer/director Jonathan Figg.
“Joey was excellent. He was a real pro. It’s a real coup for us [and] he was very excited about doing something a little grittier and edgier,” Figg said from his Orlando, Florida, production office. “There’s a possibility that Joey might contribute to the soundtrack either by doing a track himself or providing us with an artist he’s bringing up.”
The movie, which was called “The Brothers” until Sony Pictures put another movie by that title on their lineup, is a dark comedy about a pair of suburban kids who are obsessed with hip-hop.
Also last year, Fatone filmed a small role in another independent film, the comedy “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” which is slated for release sometime this year.
Despite unending rumors to the contrary, no other ‘NSYNC-related movie projects appear to be anywhere near hitting theaters.
