Absolutely shit! Josie and the kitties was a box office failure when it was released in April 2001, but the film and its soundtrack have since become a cult favorite among fans.
Screenwriter and director Harry Elfont And Deborah Kaplanthe film is a loose adaptation of the Archie comic book series. Josie and the kitties — and it hit theaters more than a decade before riverdale revived interest in Archie, Betty, Veronica and the whole gang.
As the film turned 20 in 2021, Elfont revealed that curiosity about the film was at a higher level than ever when Josie premiered. “It’s crazy how it’s grown in people’s interest and the movie has grown over the years, unlike a movie that made a lot of noise when it came out and then nobody talked about it anymore,” he said. Tastefully, tastefully, stylishly in April 2021. “It’s kind of a unique and fun experience when people still want to ask us about this movie 20 years later.”
The film followed Josie (Rachael Leigh Cook) and her bandmates Melody (Tara Reid) and Valeria (Rosario Dawson) during their meteoric rise to fame. The trio eventually discover that their label MegaRecords is using their music to cover up subliminal messages about what products and slang are cool.
The actresses didn’t actually sing in the film, but the soundtrack was still a hit, thanks in part to the contributions of Letters to Cleo’s vocalist. Kay Hanleywho provided vocals for Josie. (10 things I don’t like about you fans will remember Letters to Cleo as the band that performed on the rooftop of the high school during the film’s closing credits.)
“We were supposed to meet Kay before we went to shoot,” Cook recalled in an interview in September 2017. Fader, who called Josie and the Pussycats “the best fake rock band” of all time. “She completely calmed my nerves about the performance.”
As the drummer, Melody Reid took drum lessons, and Dawson did learn to play bass for her role as Valerie. “We did this every day for a couple of months,” American Pie — said the star in the same interview. “I remember in the beginning I couldn’t separate my arms from my legs and (producers) were like, ‘Oh my God, she’ll never learn. Like, it was a disaster. And then one day I just realized it.”
Dawson, for her part, had a lot of fun filming the movie’s big ending, where the Pussycats perform in an arena full of people and defy MegaRecords’ control. “The music and the project were so great that it felt like it was a really big concert that everyone enjoyed attending” daredevil alum said Tastefully, tastefully, stylishly in April 2021. “It was magical and deep. It was a big day! I would like to be able to crowdsurf.”
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