Blues Brothers 2000

2025-07-11T16:23:38Z

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{{short description|1998 film by John Landis}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Blues Brothers 2000
| image = Blues brothers 2000 poster.jpg
| alt = The cast members in black suits and sunglasses
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[John Landis]]
| producer = {{plainlist|
* Dan Aykroyd
* [[Leslie Belzberg]]
* John Landis
}}
| writer = {{plainlist|
* [[Dan Aykroyd]]
* John Landis
}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
* Dan Aykroyd
* [[John Goodman]]
* [[Joe Morton]]
* [[J. Evan Bonifant]]
* [[Aretha Franklin]]
* [[James Brown]]
* [[B. B. King]]
* [[The Blues Brothers|The Blues Brothers Band]]
}}
| music = [[Paul Shaffer]]
| cinematography = [[David Herrington]]
| editing = Dale Beldin
| distributor = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released = {{Film date|1998|02|06}}
| runtime = 123 minutes<ref>{{cite web | url=https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/blues-brothers-2000-2 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312073040/http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/blues-brothers-2000-2 | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 12, 2016 | title=''BLUES BROTHERS 2000'' (PG) | work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] | date=March 12, 1998 | accessdate=March 11, 2016}}</ref>
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $30 million
| gross = $32.1 million
}}

'''''Blues Brothers 2000''''' is a 1998 American [[musical film|musical]] [[action comedy]] film directed by [[John Landis]] from a screenplay written by Landis and [[Dan Aykroyd]], both of whom were also producers, and starring Aykroyd and [[John Goodman]]. The film serves as a sequel to the 1980 film ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers]].'' It also includes [[cameo appearance]]s by various musicians.

The film was released on February 6, 1998, to mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. It grossed $32.1 million on a budget of $30 million. The film is dedicated to [[John Belushi]], [[Cab Calloway]] and [[John Candy]], cast members from the original film who had died prior to its production, in addition to [[Junior Wells]], who died one month before it was released.

==Plot==
Elwood Blues is released from prison after serving eighteen years for the events of the [[The Blues Brothers (film)|previous film]] and is informed that his brother, "Joliet" Jake Blues, has died. He is picked up by Matara, a friend who works for his former drummer [[Willie Hall (drummer)|Willie Hall]], who wants to help him get back on his feet.

Before meeting up with Willie, Elwood asks to be dropped off to see Mother Mary Stigmata who is now working at a hospital after the orphanage was closed. She informs him that Curtis has also died but fathered an illegitimate son named Cabel Chamberlain, who is an [[Illinois State Police]] commander, and introduces him to an orphan named Buster to suggest mentoring him.

Against Stigmata's advice, Elwood tracks Cabel down at his police headquarters to inform him of his real father and asks him to join [[The Blues Brothers|The Blues Brothers Band]], which he plans on reforming. Cabel, upset by the news and offended by the suggestion to join him after seeing Elwood's and Jake's criminal histories, throws him out of the building, where Buster steals his wallet; it contains enough money for Elwood to purchase a new [[Bluesmobile]].

Elwood and Buster begin tracking down members of the former band to recruit them from their current jobs. Willie runs a strip club and joins after it is burned down by the Russian mafia because Elwood enlisted the help of Willie's barman, "Mighty" Mack McTeer, to try and convince them to leave the club alone, by getting two of the mobsters drunk and leaving them bound and gagged in an alley. Mack also joins the band as well, along with former members [[Matt "Guitar" Murphy]] who joins again at the advice of his wife, with whom he now runs a [[Mercedes-Benz]] dealership, as well as saxophonist "Blue Lou" Marini. Three members work at a radio station and quickly agree to join, and finally, [[Murphy Dunne]] joins after his boss at a call center gives him permission.

The newly reformed band uses their old agent to book them a show. On the way to it, they are followed by Cabel and the Illinois state police, who are now looking for Elwood for stealing Cabel's wallet earlier, and believing that he has kidnapped Buster. While avoiding the police, Elwood interrupts a militia group meeting, unintentionally destroying their boat full of explosives they planned to use.

The band arrives at the show to find they have been mistakenly booked as a [[Bluegrass music|Bluegrass band]], but perform anyway. Afterwards, they evade capture by the police, but they catch up with them at a [[tent revival]] where Reverend Cleophus James is preaching. Before Cabel can arrest them, he has an epiphany brought on by Reverend Cleophus that he should join the band instead of being a police officer. The band evades capture once more, now with Cabel joining them, who the police believe is brainwashed.

The band continues on to their next booking, an audition for a [[Battle of the Bands]] put on by Queen Mousette who Mack informs is allegedly a 130-year-old voodoo witch. Queen Mousette requests the band play something [[List of Caribbean music genres|Caribbean]]; when Elwood explains they don't play Caribbean music, she casts a spell on them to play anyway. She accepts the band into the battle, however, Elwood, Mack, and Cabel are turned into statues.

At the show, Queen Mousette undoes the spell to allow the Blues Brothers to play against the Louisiana Gator Boys, a [[Supergroup (music)|supergroup]] of blues musicians who win the battle. After the battle, the show is interrupted by the arrival of the Russian mafia and militia group from earlier; they are turned into rats by Queen Mousette. The Illinois state police arrive, but stand down after Cabel informs them that he is okay. Elwood suggests that the two bands jam together on stage. When Mother Mary Stigmata arrives, Elwood uses the performance as cover to say goodbye to Cabel and Mack and escape with Buster, with the police giving chase.

==Cast and characters==

===Bands and musical guests===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

====The Blues Brothers Band====
{{Main|The Blues Brothers}}
* [[Dan Aykroyd]] as Elwood J. Blues – harmonica and vocals
* [[John Goodman]] as Mack "Mighty Mack" McTeer – lead vocals
* [[Joe Morton]] as Commander Cabel Chamberlain / Cab Blues – vocals
* [[J. Evan Bonifant]] as Buster "Scribbles" – vocals and harmonica (harmonica recorded by [[John Popper]])
* [[Steve Cropper]] as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper – rhythm guitar and [[backing vocals|vocals]]
* [[Donald "Duck" Dunn]] as Donald "Duck" Dunn – bass guitar
* [[Murphy Dunne]] as Murphy "Murph" Dunne – keyboards
* [[Willie Hall (drummer)|Willie Hall]] as Willie "Too Big" Hall – drums and percussion
* [[Tom Malone (musician)|Tom Malone]] as Tom "Bones" Malone – [[trombone]], [[tenor saxophone]] and [[backing vocals|vocals]]
* [[Lou Marini]] as Lou "Blue Lou" Marini – [[alto saxophone]] and [[tenor saxophone]] and [[backing vocals|vocals]]
* [[Matt "Guitar" Murphy|Matt Murphy]] as Matt "Guitar" Murphy – lead guitar
* [[Alan Rubin]] as Alan "Mr. Fabulous" Rubin – trumpet, percussion and [[backing vocals|vocals]]

====Musical guests====
* [[Erykah Badu]] as Queen Moussette<ref name=BB2000>{{cite AV media |year=1998 |title=Blues Brothers 2000 |medium=Motion picture |time=1:58 |time-caption=Film credits, at time}}</ref>
* [[Blues Traveler]] as Themselves
* [[Lonnie Brooks]] as Himself
* [[Eddie Floyd]] as Ed
* [[Aretha Franklin]] as Mrs. Murphy
* [[James Brown]] as Reverend Cleophus James
* [[Jonny Lang]] as Janitor
* [[Sam Moore]] as Reverend Morris
* [[Wilson Pickett]] as Mr. Pickett
* [[Junior Wells]] as Himself

{{col-2}}

====The Louisiana Gator Boys====
The Louisiana Gator Boys is a [[blues]] [[Supergroup (music)|supergroup]] created for the film. They face The Blues Brothers in a [[Battle of the Bands]]. The band is composed of:
* [[Jeff Baxter|Jeff "Skunk" Baxter]] – guitar
* [[Gary U.S. Bonds]] – vocals
* [[Eric Clapton]] – vocals and guitar
* [[Clarence Clemons]] – vocals, [[tenor]] saxophone and [[tambourine]]
* [[Jack DeJohnette]] – drums
* [[Bo Diddley]] – vocals and guitar
* [[Jon Faddis]] – trumpet
* [[Isaac Hayes]] – vocals
* [[Dr. John]] – vocals and piano
* [[B. B. King]] as Malvern Gasperon – vocals and guitar
* Tommy "Pipes" McDonnell – vocals
* [[Charlie Musselwhite]] – vocals and harmonica
* [[Billy Preston]] – vocals and synthesizer
* [[Lou Rawls]] – vocals
* [[Joshua Redman]] – tenor saxophone
* [[Paul Shaffer]] as Marco/Himself – keyboards
* [[Koko Taylor]] – vocals
* [[Travis Tritt]] – vocals and guitar
* [[Jimmie Vaughan]] – vocals and guitar
* [[Grover Washington Jr.]] – [[baritone saxophone]]
* [[Willie Weeks]] – bass guitar
* [[Steve Winwood]] – vocals and organ
{{col-end}}

[[Kathleen Freeman]], [[Frank Oz]], [[Steve Lawrence]] and [[Jeff Morris (actor)|Jeff Morris]] appeared in [[cameo appearance|cameos]],<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&dq=the+roots+made+an+appearance+in+the+worldwide+underground+tour+of+erykah+badu&pg=PA2354 |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |last=Larkin |first=Colin |date=May 27, 2011 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=9780857125958 |language=en}}</ref> all reprising their roles from the original film. [[Nia Peeples]] portrays a state police officer, [[Darrell Hammond]] a militia member, [[John Lyons (actor)|John Lyons]] a Russian thug, and [[Paul Shaffer]] as Queen Moussette's majordomo.

==Production==
Shortly before [[John Belushi]]'s death, a sequel to ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers]]'' had been considered. [[John Landis]] revealed in an interview:<blockquote>"We'd always intended for a sequel with John, but of course when he passed away, it was obvious we weren't going to do it. But Danny had been performing with [[John Goodman]] and [[Jim Belushi|Jimmy Belushi]] and the band, and he said, "You know, this is great, because this music is recognized now—let's do a movie." I said, "Great, sure, okay," and we wrote what I thought was a terrific script. Then [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] eviscerated it. That was a strange experience, because the first thing they said was that it had to be PG, which meant they couldn't use profanity, which is basically cutting the Blues Brothers' nuts off. The first movie is an R-rated film, but there's no nudity or violence in it. It's just the language. Then they said, "You have to have a child, you have to have..." The bottom line was, the only way that movie was going to get made was to agree with everything they said. You know the difference between a brown-nose and a shithead? Depth perception. That's the only time I never really fought with the studio, because they didn't really want to make it. So we did every single thing they said. By the time we'd done that, the script was kind of homogenized and uninteresting. Danny said, "It's about the music. It's just about the music, John, so don't worry about it. We'll get the best people, and we'll make a great album, and get these people on film. We have to document these people." It's interesting, because, as much as I make fun of Danny, three or four of those guys have passed away since we made that movie. People say, "Okay, you've got [[Aretha Franklin]], [[Ray Charles]], [[James Brown]], [[Cab Calloway]], and [[John Lee Hooker]] in ''The Blues Brothers''—who's in ''Blues Brothers 2000''?" The answer? Everyone else. The first movie has five musical numbers, and the second movie has 18."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-07-21 |title=John Landis |url=https://www.avclub.com/john-landis-1798208456 |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=The A.V. Club |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>

The film made it into the [[Guinness World Records|''Guinness Book of Records'']] for the biggest car pile-up, a record previously held by the original film. 63 cars were used in the scene after Elwood says to the band, "Don't look back." Inevitably, everyone looks back and sees the massive pile-up. Portions of this scene were filmed in [[Niagara Falls]], Ontario. The original title for the film in earlier drafts was ''The Blues Brothers meet The Voodoo Queen.''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-01 |title=WAG: An Interview with John Landis |url=http://www.thewag.net/film/landis.htm |access-date=2025-03-27 |archive-date=November 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101183059/http://www.thewag.net/film/landis.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

===Casting===
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2015}}
The film was originally intended to include Brother Zee Blues ([[Jim Belushi]]). But due to an already existing television deal (he had been cast in the ABC drama ''[[Total Security (TV series)|Total Security]]''), he was unable to appear and the script was altered to include Cab Blues ([[Joe Morton]]). This character was named Cabel as an homage to [[Cab Calloway]], who died four years prior to the film's release. (His character Curtis was revealed to have died in the film along with Jake.)

The Blues Brothers' original keyboardist, [[Paul Shaffer]], had been committed to [[Gilda Radner]]'s one-woman show on Broadway ''[[Gilda Live]]'' and was therefore unable to appear in the original film. He was replaced by actor-musician [[Murphy Dunne]]. Shaffer does appear in this one, taking a week off from ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'' to film his role as Queen Moussette's majordomo and emcee of the Battle of the Bands ([[Warren Zevon]] took his place that week on Letterman's show). Shaffer shaved his head for the role, a change in appearance he chose to retain permanently.

During the "Funky Nassau" number, Shaffer in his character of "Marco," asks to cut in on keyboards, which Murph allows. This marks the first time on-screen that the Blues Brothers Band played with their original keyboardist.

Several cast members from the original film reprised their roles, including [[Frank Oz]], [[Jeff Morris (actor)|Jeff Morris]], [[Steve Lawrence]], [[Kathleen Freeman]], [[Aretha Franklin]], and [[James Brown]].

==Release==
The film was screened out of competition at the [[1998 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4901/year/1998.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Blues Brothers 2000 |accessdate=October 4, 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>

===Box office===
The film grossed a little over $14 million in box office sales in North America.<ref name="BOM2">{{cite web | title=Box Office Mojo | work=Blues Brothers 2000 | url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bluesbrothers2000.htm | accessdate=December 16, 2006}}</ref>

===Critical reception===
The film received mixed reviews. {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|46|5.1|48|Braving onward without the late John Belushi, ''Blues Brothers 2000'' gets the band back together with a spirited soundtrack, but a mission that's far less divine.}}<ref name="rt">{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blues_brothers_2000/ |title=''Blues Brothers 2000'' |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]] |accessdate=January 11, 2025}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|48|23}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blues-brothers-2000/|title=''Blues Brothers 2000''|website=[[Metacritic]]|accessdate=January 11, 2025}}</ref>

It earned a D score from ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''.<ref name="ew">{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/1998/02/20/blues-brothers-2000/ |title=''Blues Brothers 2000'' |last=Sinclair |first=Tom |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |publisher=Time Warner |date=February 20, 1998 |accessdate=May 14, 2018}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave it two out of four stars, writing, "''Blues Brothers 2000'' has a lot of good music in it. It would have had more if they'd left out the story, which would have been an excellent idea. The film is lame comedy surrounded by high-energy blues (and some pop, rock and country music)."<ref name="ebert">{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blues-brothers-2000-1998 |title=''Blues Brothers 2000'' |last=Ebert |first=Roger |work=[[RogerEbert.com]] |publisher=Ebert Digital LLC |date=February 6, 1998 |accessdate=January 11, 2025}}</ref>

Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{cite web |title=Home - Cinemascore |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/ |website=Cinemascore |accessdate=28 December 2019}}</ref>

Despite the poor reception, Aykroyd remained proud of the film, saying in a 2024 interview with ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', "the second movie's a small-g good accompaniment to the first. Erykah Badu's song was worth the price of admission. I'm glad we did that story, and I wish Jimmy [Belushi] had been in it, but everybody was good in it, and it was fun."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Hiatt |first=Brian |date=2024-07-28 |title=Dan Aykroyd Looks Back: Making 'The Blues Brothers,' Hiding John Belushi's Cocaine, and More |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/dan-aykroyd-making-the-blues-brothers-john-belushi-ghostbusters-interview-1235069546/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Video game==
{{main|Blues Brothers 2000 (video game)}}
A ''Blues Brothers 2000'' video game was released for the [[Nintendo 64]] on November 17, 2000, two years after the film's release. The plot involves Elwood as the main character going through different chapters and levels while trying to save the kidnapped members of the band one by one. Like the film on which it based and the [[The Blues Brothers (video game)|video game]] based on the original film, it was poorly received.

==Soundtrack==
{{main|Blues Brothers 2000 (soundtrack)}}

== Future ==
In a 2023 interview, [[Jim Belushi]] stated that Aykroyd had kept pitching him several ideas for a third film, such as a female-centric film where Elwood mentors a group called the Blues Sisters, and a film where Elwood finds Jake's long-lost biological brother in Albania.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Jeff McCobb |date=2023-04-04 |title=Jim Belushi Shares Some Of The 'Creative' Blue Brothers Movie Ideas Dan Aykroyd Keeps Pitching Him |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/interviews/jim-belushi-shares-some-of-the-creative-blue-brothers-movie-ideas-dan-aykroyd-keeps-pitching-him |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=CINEMABLEND |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0118747|Blues Brothers 2000}}
* {{TCMDb title|420033|Blues Brothers 2000}}
* {{Mojo title|bluesbrothers2000|Blues Brothers 2000}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|blues_brothers_2000|Blues Brothers 2000}}

{{The Blues Brothers}}
{{John Landis}}
{{Saturday Night Live}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blues Brothers 2000}}
[[Category:The Blues Brothers]]
[[Category:Blues films]]
[[Category:1998 films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1990s buddy comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s musical comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s comedy road movies]]
[[Category:American action comedy films]]
[[Category:American buddy comedy films]]
[[Category:American musical comedy films]]
[[Category:American comedy road movies]]
[[Category:American sequel films]]
[[Category:Films about Catholic nuns]]
[[Category:Films about music and musicians]]
[[Category:Films directed by John Landis]]
[[Category:Films set in Chicago]]
[[Category:Films set in Louisiana]]
[[Category:Films shot in Chicago]]
[[Category:Films shot in Kingston, Ontario]]
[[Category:Saturday Night Live films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Dan Aykroyd]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by John Landis]]
[[Category:Jukebox musical films]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films produced by John Landis]]
[[Category:1998 action comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]
[[Category:English-language action comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language musical comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language buddy comedy films]]
[[Category:1998 musical films]]

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Blues Brothers 2000