OFF THE CHARTS

THE LONELY ISLAND ARE BACK. COOL BEANS

T’S BEEN NINE years since Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer — aka comedy collective The Lonely Island — made their first film, the supremely silly cult gem Hot Rod. Since then, they’ve been based on TV, in Saturday Night Live’s hilarious Digital Shorts and Samberg’s sitcom, Brooklyn Nine-nine.

That will change with this summer’s Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, a mock-documentary that aims to send up the world of pop-rap, as Samberg’s teen idol, Conner4real, desperately clings to his 15 minutes of fame. “What we’re edging towards,” says Samberg, decked out on set at the LA Forum in a pure white, Eminem-wannabe tracksuit, “are the ‘real’ moments you get in these films: when Katy Perry’s relationship goes south, or when One Direction sit round a campfire discussing whether they’ll still be friends in the future. It’s totally staged, but you’re charmed by it.”

The comedy troupe is far from new to music parodies, so this topic isn’t a huge surprise. “We’d been talking for years about doing a concertstyle movie,” says Samberg. “Then Akiva had a meeting with Judd Apatow, and Judd pitched exactly this idea to him.”

Empire watches as Samberg performs a spot-on Eurodance pastiche called Ibiza, complete with identikit backing track, cheesy moves and been there/done that scratching. “We all love pop music,” says Taccone, “and hope that shines through.” “Then again,” adds Schaffer, “we are still taking the piss.” Never in doubt. SIMON BRAUND

POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING IS