Movies

'That Thing You Do' Watch Party: Cast Reuniting For A Livestream Commentary This Friday

That Thing You Do watch party
By Ben Pearson

Tom Hanks hosted an unconventional episode of Saturday Night Live this past weekend after recovering from the coronavirus, but there's even more Hanks-related fun heading your way this week.

The cast of That Thing You Do!, Hanks's feature directorial debut from 1996, is reuniting this Friday, April 17, 2020 to participate in a livestream commentary of the movie. Break out your Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters T-shirts and read on for the details.

Actors Tom Everett Scott, Johnathan Schaech, Ethan Embry, and Steve Zahn, who play the fictional band "The Wonders" in the film, announced that they'll be participating in a That Thing You Do watch party this Friday. Three quarters of the fictional band reunited in 2017 for a surprise performance at The Roxy in Los Angeles, but this will be the first time that the entire band is back together – and in addition to providing some excellent quarantine distraction content, it's all for a good cause. They're helping to raise money for MusiCares' COVID-19 relief fund. The organization, which is the charitable foundation of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, is dispensing donations to musicians who have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

And of course, this has special significance for this particular film. Earlier this month, the coronavirus claimed the life of Adam Schlesinger, the co-founder and frontman of the popular band Fountains of Wayne and a songwriter of tons of songs for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Schlesinger co-wrote "That Thing You Do," the title track in the movie that's performed by The Wonders. The catchy-as-hell earworm becomes a huge hit in the world of the movie, and the Oscar-nominated song was so popular that it became a moderate hit on the U.S. radio charts as well.

To participate in the watch party, you'll need to pop in your own copy of That Thing You Do! (or you can currently rent it online at several different places), and head over to The Wonders' YouTube channel, which will be hosting the livestream commentary broadcast. It's cool to see that Liv Tyler will be participating – will Hanks himself (virtually) stop by, too? Or maybe even Charlize Theron, who also had a small role in the movie?

Check out Siskel and Ebert's review of the movie from 1996 below:

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