Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are without a doubt, in my opinion, two of the funniest comedians ever to grace the big or small screen, and their rise to fame through their comedy duo/band, Flight of the Conchords, has been very much well deserved in recent years.
Starting out in their native New Zealand, the pair then had a radio show on BBC Radio 2 back in 2004, before starring (as Bret and Jemaine) on the self-titled and utterly brilliant HBO TV show, Flight of the Conchords, along with their radio co-star Rhys Darby (playing their ridiculously entertaining band manager, Murray). Running for two seasons, the programme is by far one of the funniest I’ve ever seen, and if you’ve never seen it, then I highly recommend you pick it up as soon as possible and treat yourself to an early Christmas present.
The second season of the show ended back in 2009, and when it came to an end, the pair announced that it wouldn’t be returning for a third season. Word now comes from THR, via Collider, however, that we may not have seen the last of Bret and Jemaine just yet after all. But rather than bring the show back for a third season, they’re planning on moving to the big screen instead:
“We’re gonna try and do a movie. We just need a story.”
Transitioning from being a band to having your own radio show to then having your own comedy TV show isn’t something many (if any?) people have ever done, and taking it even further to turn the show into a film would be so good, not to mention very impressive.
The success of The Inbetweeners Movie this summer clearly showed that a TV show can be turned into a very popular movie, and turning Flight into a movie has such brilliant potential. Given that McKenzie’s said they’re still in need of a story, it’s early days for the project, but the very fact that it’s a possibility is excellent news in my eyes.
The interview came in McKenzie’s promotion of the upcoming The Muppets film, which hits the US this weekend (we’ve got to wait until 10th February for it), having worked with his Flight co-creator, writer, and director, James Bobin, director of The Muppets, as the film’s music supervisor, writing quite a few of the songs for the film. Below is a great portion of the interview, in which McKenzie talks about how he’s been a fan of The Muppets for centuries.
He’ll next be seen starring in Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at the end of next year, and Clement will be coming to the big screen next May in the similarly anticipated Men in Black III. With any luck, there’ll find enough time to set the Flight movie a little further in motion soon and figure out the story. Whatever they come up, you just know it’s going to be brilliant.
(I’ve also put below one of my favourite scenes from the TV show, just because it’s awesome. Enjoy.)
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cxq_fQRUx4′]
