Watch: The Band Is Back Together In A Virtual 20th Anniversary 'Josie And The Pussycats' Reunion
The band is back together, and ready for a reunion tour. Though that reunion tour mostly comprises of a (very cheery) Zoom chat. Rachael Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson, and Tara Reid met up for a virtual Josie and the Pussycats reunion on the comedy-musical's 20th anniversary. Watch the three of them reminisce over the now-beloved movie in the special reunion video below.
Josie and the Pussycats Reunion
When it was released in 2001, Josie and the Pussycats barely made a ripple at the box office, grossing just $14.87 million on a $39 million budget and received middling-to-negative reviews. But as stars Cook, Reid, and Dawson noted in their virtual Josie and the Pussycats reunion, the movie was ahead of its time. The film, inspired by the Archie Comics series and Hanna-Barbera cartoon of the same name, has become a bonafide cult classic, with fans embracing the film's satire of consumerism and cutting-edge fashion.
In the 20th anniversary reunion over Zoom, the stars reminisced about making the film, and the legacy that it's left in the two decades since it hit theaters.
"You watch it now and it so resonates with the time that we're in, but at the time it was hard to totally appreciate the satire that it was," said Dawson, who played Valerie Brown in the movie.
Tara Reid, who played Melody Valentine, added, "I can't tell you how many places I've gone [where I'm told], 'My favorite movie that you've done is Josie and the Pussycats. And I get interviewed all the time, of all the movies I've done. It means so much to me how much they love it, because it meant so much to us. When we made this film, we had the best time ever."
And Cook points out that the film — despite being 20 years old — has gained a strong cult following.
In Josie and the Pussycats, which was directed and co-written by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, "Josie (Rachael Leigh Cook), Melody (Tara Reid) and Val (Rosario Dawson) are three small-town girl musicians determined to take their rock band out of their garage and straight to the top, while remaining true to their look, style and sound. They get a record deal which brings fame and fortune but soon realize they are pawns of two people who want to control the youth of America. They must clear their names, even if it means losing fame and fortune."