Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, the RiffTrax trio will tear into Godzilla on August 14 and Anaconda on October 30!
It seems RiffTrax's latest Kickstarter project has given us more than originally intended. Recently, the trio of Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy put up a fan-funded attempt to do a live riffing of Matthew Broderick's unfortunate feature film Godzilla '98. Remember that one? The Godzilla movie that was embarrassed to be a Godzilla movie? The Godzilla movie that Japan is embarrassed to see called a Godzilla movie? Well, they're going to be watching that one live, broadcast across the nation's movie theaters thanks to Fathom Events on August 14!
Through Kickstarter, the trio needed to raise $100,000 for TriStar Pictures to agree to let them verbally rail on it live. After all, the current incarnation of Mystery Science Theater 3000's spirit may be allowed to legally sell mp3s of them making fun of major motion pictures, but actually distributing the real movie itself as part of the package costs a lot of scratch. Luckily, RiffTrax has a gigantic fan following and made that $100,000 with no problem. The money kept pouring in far past the goal, so Mike and the guys upped the ante.
With an added goal of $250,000, RiffTrax would be able to get the rights to do a RiffTrax Live showing of the Jennifer Lopez vehicle Anaconda. That one came close to the wire, but there was a nice boost of cash towards the final stretch that brought the Kickstarter to $265,011 thanks to the support of 4,887 backers. Not bad at all. The RiffTrax Live event for Anacondawill be in theaters on October 30.
This isn't the first time RiffTrax has tried to use Kickstarter to get a big deal movie release for a RiffTrax Live showing. Last year, they raised an excessive amount of money to bring the first Twilight(one of the site's most popular riffs) back onto the screen to make fun of. While they demolished their goal, the studio wouldn't budge and they had to try and get another film. That ultimately led to the RiffTrax Live showing of Starship Troopers, which was a good time, regardless.
To keep history from repeating itself, the studios owning the rights to Godzillaand Anacondaagreed to the terms ahead of time, so we're all good.
If you haven't seen a RiffTrax Live before, I highly suggest checking them out. Most of them are available to buy off their site, whether on disc or digitally. They have an upcoming show on July 10, where they're going to be watching the recent schlock feature Sharknado. The upcoming Godzillaand Anacondashows are pretty imperative to see based on how they will not be released to the public after their original airings outside of one encore presentation each. Much like when they did Starship Troopers, the theatrical rights and home release rights are contractually separate and the best they're able to do is just release an mp3 of them reciting the same jokes. In other words, this will be your own chance to experience these riffings alongside the energy of watching it in a crowded movie theater filled with like-minded fans.
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