You’d be forgiven for jumping to the wrong conclusion about OutKast’s film debut. With both members of the Grammy-winning, multimillion-selling rap duo receiving top billing in the upcoming big-screen musical “Idlewild,” logic dictates that it must be, well, an OutKast movie.
The film casts Big Boi (Antwan Patton) as a Prohibition-era hustler who gets caught up in a gangster turf grab and Andre 3000 (Andre Benjamin) as his childhood friend who struggles to reconcile his love life and his musical ambitions. Writer-director Bryan Barber calls “Idlewild” a “gumbo” of genres: shoot-’em-up action, melodrama and musical comedy.
Those stories, however, converge only briefly. In the film, as in real life, the duo keeps face time to a minimum while the characters’ fates remain inextricably linked.
“It’s not like we were filming together,” says Andre 3000, brushing off questions about his musical partner’s acting ability. “It’s only two scenes we have together in the whole movie.”
Big Boi puts a finer point on their non-screen chemistry. “People are expecting a ‘Beverly Hills Cop’-type of buddy movie,” he says. “That’s not what this is.”
And so it goes with hip-hop’s most unconventional platinum-plus relationship, which hasn’t released new music as a group in three years.
“Idlewild” is set to arrive in March after 10 months of release date push-backs and cost overruns, a lot of fan conjecture about OutKast’s demise and much hand-wringing by executives at the group’s LaFace/Jive Records and the film’s distributor, Universal.
The film sticks to the formula that resulted in Outkast’s 2003 double album “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below”: It had been essentially two separate projects. The film was conceived as a starring vehicle for both rappers.
Benjamin and Patton’s on-set days rarely overlapped during the movie’s 3 1/2-month shoot in Wilmington, N.C. Keeping the two visually separate is a crucial part of the film’s impact, Barber says.
“My first piece of advice was, ‘I don’t think you should do anything together. I want you guys to be characters,’ ” Barber says. “Them being in a lot of scenes together–that would have made them OutKast.”
Yet being OutKast is precisely what got the film a green light from HBO Films.
It was envisioned originally as a straight-to-cable release with a $1.5 million budget, but Universal acquired the theatrical rights last year after seeing early footage. Actors such as Terrence Howard and Ving Rhames as well as R&B stars including Patti LaBelle and Macy Gray joined the cast. Platoons of dancers and choreographers were enlisted.
Eventually, “Idlewild’s” budget ballooned to $27 million.
That makes the strategy of minimizing the rappers’ screen time together seem like a risky move that could undercut the film’s primary selling point. But doing their own thing has been a recipe for the group’s success.
“We’re both producing writers, we both control every aspect of the music,” Andre 3000 says. “So we don’t have to be in the same room to make music. Sometimes, to put your own vision out, you have to be in your own space.”
They’ve been fast friends since the 10th grade, but Big Boi dismisses the notion that he and Andre 3000 have become like an old married couple, uncommunicative and staying together more out of convenience than passion. While admitting that their careers have veered onto separate courses, he likens their relationship to that of brothers.
The duo’s formula hasn’t produced a dud; every OutKast album has enjoyed at least platinum sales. And while Andre 3000 refuses to close the door on the prospect of taking a break from the group or completing a solo project, Big Boi insists predictions of OutKast’s demise are premature.
“We’ve gotten older. Your agenda starts to change,” he says. “Dre wanted to pursue movies. I was doing my record company, Purple Ribbon Entertainment. We’re pursuing different avenues of entertainment. We’re still gonna do another OutKast album in a couple of years.”
Barber, director of many of the group’s most famous videos, including “Hey Ya!” “Roses” and “The Whole World,” has known the duo since 1998. Largely responsible for visually branding the group, he is well positioned to appraise what makes OutKast run.
“One rounds out the other, one helps the other succeed,” Barber says. “Big Boi is urban. The underground. Andre is pop culture. Those things come together, pop and street, and make the perfect combination.”
For Barber, the penultimate scene of the film–one of the few in which the two appear together–crystallizes the partnership. “It’s a scene shot from behind, as they’re walking out the door,” Barber says. “They say goodbye, but then the two of them walk away together.
“You know they’re each gonna be successful, and they’ll always be the friends that they were when they started. For the people that know those guys and their struggle who see it, it’s kinda heavy. You feel their growth. And their love.”
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OUTKAST’S CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Andre 3000 and Big Boi of OutKast haven’t changed their working habits for the soundtrack of “Idlewild.” They’ve recorded at studios in different parts of Atlanta and meet
briefly every few days to trade notes. “I do music, put a few tracks on the CD, drop by the studio. ‘Hey, Big Boi, what do you think of it?,’ ” Andre 3000 says. ” ‘I love it!’ And Big Boi’d write to it. Sometimes he comes
up with cool stuff.” The formula worked for “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.” And all the duo’s albums have racked up platinum sales.
[ redeye, l.a. times ]1993
“Player’s Ball” appears on LaFace Records’ Christmas album and becomes OutKast’s first single, topping Billboard’s Rap Chart.
1994
Full-length debut “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” goes platinum.
1995
Named best new group at the Source Awards.
1996
“ATLiens” drops. Dre calls out fellow rappers, as quoted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “We’re not trying to be antagonists. … But to me, all of this sampling, using old records and hooks is a cop-out.”
1998
Third album “Aquemini” drops.
1999
Outkast is sued over the single “Rosa Parks” by Rosa Parks. The civil rights pioneer objected to the use of her name and some of the song’s language, but the suit was finally settled in 2005.
2000
Dre changes his rap name to “Andre 3000.” “Stankonia” (right) is released and eventually
goes quadruple-platinum.
2002
“The Whole World” wins the Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or group.
2003
“Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” makes the group into a crossover smash.
2004
“Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” wins the Grammy for album of the year.
2005
Big Boi forms the Purple Ribbon All-Stars with members of the Dungeon Family; the single “Kryptonite” currently is on
airwaves.
2006
“Idlewild” and “The Hard 10” disc are due.
They’re back
The soundtrack for “Idlewild,” which drops March 7, is OutKast’s first new music in three years. Here’s a look at other artists, characters or film franchises we haven’t heard from in a while. [ redeye ]
Movies
James Bond: Daniel Craig takes over the super-spy role in “Casino Royale,” which is making a return of its own this year. “Royale,” one of Ian Fleming’s original Bond books, was made into a film starring Peter Sellers in 1967.
Superman: In the aptly titled “Superman Returns,” the Man of Steel gets another big-screen treatment in June–the first since 1987’s “Superman IV.” Newcomer Brandon Routh (left) dons the red cape this time around.
Capt. Jack Sparrow and Will Turner: The heroes of 2003’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Return of the Black Pearl” are back in July with “PC: Dead Man’s Chest,” the first of two sequels.
Music
Justin Timberlake (right): He’s been busy romancing Cameron Diaz and making movies, but come summer, we’re sure you won’t be able to hide from him. That’s when his follow-up to 2002’s “Justified” drops.
Pink: “Missundaztood” dropped way back in 2001, but Pink hasn’t been idle. The newlywed’s “I’m Not Dead” disc is set for release on April 4.
Ricky Martin: On “Life,” his first English-language release since 2000, Martin (left) went hard-core with facial scruff, a tat and raunchy lyrics. Maybe Martin, playing The Chicago Theatre on Thursday, is now living libido loco.
TV
“The Sopranos”: HBO hasn’t aired a new episode of its gangster series in 21 months. Tony’s back to whacking his enemies on March 12.
Jenna Elfman (right): Will the actress most famous for playing the ditzy half of “Dharma & Greg” find success as a smart lawyer on the new sitcom “Courting Alex”? She’s already done one better than long-missing Heather Graham, whose ABC sitcom “Emily’s Reasons Why Not” recently was canceled after one episode.
The Olympics: Get ready for 24/7 coverage of the Winter Olympics from Turin, Italy. Make that 24.5/7. Starting Feb. 10, NBC and its family of channels plan 416 hours of coverage, which averages out to 24.5 hours a day–for 17 days.
