Trolls Band Together Is Making A Complete NSYNC Reunion Happen
"Bye, Bye, Bye?" More like "Hello, Hello, Hello!" Okay, that doesn't roll off the tongue nearly as well (then again, maybe it does?), but that's why I leave the songwriting to the actual musicians. Anyway, if you've been tuned into the world of pop music lately, you've no doubt gotten wind that NSYNC has been up to ... something. The former members of the 1990s U.S. boy band sensation just reunited at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards to present the Best Pop Award to Taylor Swift. Is this their way of teeing up a cameo in T-Swizzle's box office hit in the making, "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour?"
No, the truth is either less or more exciting, depending on your feelings about the "Trolls" film series. NSYNC veteran Justin Timberlake lends his voice to the animated franchise — which is based on the mega-popular toy line created by Thomas Dam — as the cynical troll Branch opposite Anna Kendrick as the ever-optimistic Princess Poppy. After Universal left the film industry shooketh by releasing the second entry in the property, "Trolls World Tour," directly to VOD in a then-unprecedented move during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns (we were all so young and naive back then, weren't we?), the studio has elected to give its new sequel, "Trolls Band Together," a more traditional theatrical rollout this fall.
As an added incentive to get audiences to turn out for the film, Universal has released a trailer confirming "Trolls Band Together" will feature "Better Place," a brand-new NYSYNC song and the group's first ditty "in over 20 years," as the preview proudly proclaims. Check out the trailer embedded below for a quick snippet from the tune (you can also watch this behind-the-scenes video of the band at work).
You may hate me, but it ain't no lie...
"I want you back," the masses cried, and NSYNC has heeded the call. "Trolls Band Together" reveals that Branch, who is now in a relationship with Poppy, was once part of the latter's favorite childhood boy band BroZone, a group that also includes Branch's brothers Floyd (Troye Sivan), John Dory (Eric André), Spruce (Daveed Diggs), Clay (Kid Cudi), and Sneezy (Michael Stuhlbarg). Fine, I made that last one up. Regardless, in an example of life imitating art, Poppy and Branch are forced to reunite the members of BroZone after Floyd is kidnapped by some nefarious types hoping to exploit his musical abilities — much like NYSYNC is reuniting in real life to breathe life into Timberlake's flailing movie career make musical magic once more.
With the second "Trolls" film having gone straight to VOD, it will be interesting to see how that impacts "Trolls Band Together" at the box office. While Pixar's "Lightyear" landed with a thud at the box office in 2022 after the studio's previous three animated films went directly to Disney+, the studio's "Elemental" overcame a slow start to become one of the feel-good stories of this year's summer movie season. Animated franchise films, in particular, have become one of the more reliable bets in the post-lockdowns landscape, which bodes well for the "Trolls" threequel.
The real question is whether "Trolls Band Together" can hold its own against Disney Animation's "Wish," which will arrive less than a week after it to commemorate the animation powerhouse's 100th anniversary. Somewhere, Mr. Timberlake is whispering, "It's gonna be me."
"Trolls Band Together" opens in theaters on November 17, 2023.