20 years of Rock Academy: “It’s almost crazy that we haven’t done a second one!”

Richard Linklater returned to Première on the popularity of his “coming of age movie”.

A musician, freshly kicked out of his rock band, becomes a music teacher in a private school. There is no question for him of teaching his students Brahms or Mozart, it will rather be Led Zep and Jimi Hendrix. So out of the closet, harps and flutes, let’s take out the Gibsons and make some noise!

At the beginning of October 2003, Richard Linklater (Rebel Generation, A Scanner Darkly, Boyhood…) imported his multifaceted talent in the service of Rock Academya comedy with a rock spirit in which a class of young teenagers sees a rather unusual music teacher arrive, played by Jack Black in person, himself co-leader of the group Tenacious D. For his electrifying performance, he was also nominated for a Golden Globe for best comic actor.

The result, euphoric, sparks. Rock Academy had conquered First 20 years ago, and the observation is still valid today: it is a very successful film. “There is something euphoric in this comedy that defies explanation: takeoff is immediate, and we climb very quickly to an altitude which is constantly maintained at a level that can be described as stratospheric if we consider the usual comic standard“, we wrote in our review, a few months after its American release, because in France, the film arrived on the big screen in March 2004.

Rock Academy can be (re)watched on Première Max

Met in 2018 ahead of the release of Last Flag Flying, its director Richard Linklater had returned for First on the great success of Rock Academy. Because with more than $130 million in revenue, Paramount logically immediately demanded a sequel. But the team had other plans, and if a musical derived from this School of Rock was launched – and in turn worked – they ultimately did not turn Rock Academy 2.

“This film is constantly being rediscovered thanks to the musical which is touring all over the world, he explained in First. A new generation has jumped on it. Rock always works well with children. They recognize themselves in the message of liberation and rebellion associated with the guitar riffs. It’s almost crazy that we didn’t make a second one. The studio, with its mercenary breath, slammed us against a wall and said: ‘Sequel or TV series?’ But no one came up with the right idea. We dried up… I didn’t want one of those automatic sequels which consist of giving yourself a victory lap simply because you can afford it. Finally they made the TV series (currently on the Nickelodeon channel, for toddlers).”

Let’s also not forget the excellent supporting roles, which help to make this film particularly endearing: Joan Cusack, Sarah Silverman, the young Miranda Corsgrove who plays Summer Hathaway, or Mike White. The latter, in addition to playing opposite Jack Black, is the author of the film. He would later create another acclaimed concept: the series The White Lotus.

The trailer for Rock Academy :

These actors who are also musicians and singers