Lord And Miller Actually Want To Make That Hall & Oates Biopic From The Afterparty [Exclusive]
If you've already tuned into Apple TV+'s new mystery-comedy series "The Afterparty," you'll recognize Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's signature brand of humor right away. The duo behind "The LEGO Movie" and "21 Jump Street" have now turned their attention to this genre-bending whodunnit series, but they still manage to sneak in some delightful pop culture references nonetheless.
/Film's Ben Pearson spoke with the team, who executive produce and write for the series, with Miller also directing. The topic of conversation soon came around to one of the series' funniest bits, a film-within-a-show starring the series' famous eventual murder victim, Xavier (Dave Franco). Xavier is killed at his high school reunion, leading Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) to question each of his imaginative former classmates. Viewers are treated to several hilarious tidbits from Xavier's career, including a clip from a People's Choice Award-nominated Hall and Oates biopic co-starring Channing Tatum — and it turns out that project might be more than just a quick gag for Lord and Miller.
There's More Private Eyes Footage Out There
In our interview, Miller revealed that the idea for this Hall and Oates biopic has been a part of this story for a long time — well before movies like "Bohemian Rhapsody" made serious money at the box office. "What was funny is, that was an idea that I'd had in the original script from a decade ago, before this boom of musical biopics happened," he told us. It's a pitch-perfect throwaway scene, but it's also just goofy enough to have the potential to grow. So have the filmmakers thought about expanding it into a real movie?
Apparently so. Lord called the Hall and Oates biopic "the one that I really hope we get to make someday," and Miller also said he and Lord realized, "Oh man, you could do a real lark of a movie." The pair also revealed that plenty of footage from the shoot didn't make it into the more restrained final cut. "We tried to shoehorn it in there," Lord says. The clip we do see, presented during a news report about the star's death, is jam-packed with excellent jokes and terrible wigs. Tatum appears as a curly-haired John Oates, smashing a vinyl record against the wall in a demonstration of what the pair needs — a smash hit. Franco, as Xavier, is a hilarious Daryl Hall who's suddenly struck with inspiration for the song "Maneater."
The clip is unfortunately cut off before we get to witness Tatum and Franco's Hall & Oates cover ("You go high, I'll go the same high," Franco's Hall eagerly instructs as they prepare for the new song). Xavier's entire biography is a comedic highlight of the series, from the news scroll saying he once performed for 69,420 fans to his other key role in a big-screen adaptation of "Hungry Hungry Hippos." But the Hall and Oates biopic, titled "Private Eyes," is the satirical crowning jewel atop the news report.
"We had so much fun shooting with the two of them," Miller told us, "and there's more that we shot that did not make it into the show because it was irresponsible." That description only makes us more curious about what was left out of this hysterical sequence. We'd love to see a full "Private Eyes," movie, but if Lord and Miller are too busy with other projects, we also wouldn't say no to a Tatum-Franco music video.
"The Afterparty" is currently streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping weekly.