Movie News: Tommy Boy Turns 25; Movies to Masks; Video Streaming Up 85%

In today’s Movie News: A lovely look back at Tommy Boy on its 25th anniversary; how one company went from making movies to making masks; streaming to TVs is up 85 percent; and some people are in no rush to get back to theaters. Also: Are we still writing about Tiger King? We are.

Tommy Boy Director Looks Back: Pete Segal talks to Deadline about the origin of the beloved Chris Farley-David Spade comedy, and you should read the entire thing. One highlight is the origin of “fat guy in a little coat”: “Fat guy in a little coat was something Chris would do in the SNL offices, but he never sang it. Just said it to annoy people,” says Segal.

From Making Movies to Making Masks: The Hollywood Reporter has a fantastic story on how writer-director Jeremy Garelick and his production company American High have switched from moviemaking to making masks to help frontline medical workers battling the coronavirus pandemic. Someday it will make a great movie.

Tiger King Miniseries: Carole Baskin, the ninth most fascinating person in Netflix’s Tiger King, is calling on the creators of an upcoming Tiger King miniseries to use CGI cats. Kate McKinnon will play Baskin. The coveted role of Joe Exotic is still open. EW has details.

More Streaming: Variety cities a new Nielsen analysis that says we consumed 400 billion minutes of streaming content on our TVs in the first three weeks of March — an 85 percent increase over the same period in 2019. Okay, maybe we should have spent those 400 billion minutes making masks, but have you seen Tiger King?

Not Eager to Return: Variety also cites a new study that finds Americans aren’t all that eager to return to attending public events. Nearly half of respondents said it would take a “few months” to go back to movie theaters once they can, or that they would “possibly never” return. The study comes from events research firm Performance Research and Full Circle Research Co. It sounds like nothing will lure some people back to theaters, but a brief rebuttal? Watch this trailer for Tenet. 

Sonic Disruption: Sonic the Hedgehog arrives early on VOD yesterday, so we wanted to offer this look at how the film’s director, Jeff Fowler, bounced back last spring after the internet savaged the original design of the titular hedgehog. Also: Did you know there might never have been a Sonic movie if not for Deadpool?

Movie Recommendation: Last night we saw Richard Linklater’s fantastic Bernie for the first time. After a don’t-eat-during-this-opening-scene opening scene, it turns into a fabulous love letter to West Texas, blessed by Jack Black’s remarkably lovely singing and one of Matthew McConaughey’s strangest roles, in that he is, for once, the straightest arrow in the movie. It’s the story of an undertaker named Bernie (Black) who befriends a very disagreeable widow (Shirley MacLaine, terrific). Then something newsworthy happens.

And here’s a link to what we like to call “yesterday’s movie news roundup.”