What do the following films have in common: Delgo, P2, Oogieloves In The BIG Balloon Adventure, and We Are Your Friends? They all made the Hollywood Hall of Fame for entirely the wrong reasons.
The movie equivalent to a stinking mudslide, We Are Your Friends bombed like the open mic comedian who was too drunk and edgy for the crowd.
“My friends and I? We promote parties,” Zac Efron’s character smugly exclaimed in the WAYF trailer, proud of the trust fund finally being put to good use. “To be a DJ all you need is a laptop, some talent and ONE TRACK.”
Ah, poor Zac Efron’s character, 20-something years old and still so much to learn. If only they knew to make a good movie, all you need is likable characters, genuine obstacles they must overcome, and a plot which isn’t WAYF-er thin (I’m so sorry). However, the trailer has over 9 million YouTube hits, and the movie DID make around $1.8 million (or 180,000 ticket sales). So someone must have watched it … Unless Warner Bros. somehow conducted ghost ticket sales on the sly, in true EDM spirit.
SPIN decided to solve the puzzle and head to Electric Zoo, asking a bunch of 20-30 year olds questions about WAYF. People at Electric Zoo like electronic dance music, so surely they saw the movie?
Did you see Zac Efron’s EDM movie, We Are Your Friends?
Trey, 19: No, ’cause that s-t’s whack. It just looked kinda corny and kinda just, like, cheesy — not something I would want to watch.
Thomas, 13 (not real name or age): Uh, yeah, of course. I love Zac Efron. He’s a very good looking man and… he’s handsome.
Matt, 31: Uh, no. I did not see it but I know exactly what you’re talking about. It just looked like more of a white privileged kid trying to make it with his entourage. It looked like somebody who was gonna make it regardless, ’cause he had something to fall back on. It was just his journey of trying to be a DJ.
Anonymous passerby: He is sexy as f-k!
Did you know that it had one of the worst performing opening weekends in box office history?
Clarissa: Oh, seriously? That’s kind of unfortunate.
Chelsea, 27: In history? Ever? Shut the front door. No f–king way. Oh my god, I feel bad for him. Well, I don’t like to give that a lot of credit because it could do really poorly in the box office and be a cult hit, you know what I mean? [But] I never saw that s–t, I can’t guarantee that it’s gonna be good either.
Joni: I think everyone should burn their TVs. I enjoy a good movie theater every once and a while if you’re pretty stoned.
What kind of audience do you think the film was aiming for?
Trey: Like, the 12-year-olds. [Laughs.] The little kids that sneak into raves.
Glendy: If they were trying to [aim for Electric Zoo attendees], they should have just made a movie about Electric Zoo, or about what, I guess, our generation experiences when we come to this: It’s just the environment, it’s amazing. Just seeing everyone just go f–king crazy. [Laughs.] Not just about some one kid that’s trying to make it big. That’s what it basically was.
Matt: I would say, more upper middle class, so. It’s not possible to portray this scene on film because each year is different. There’s no one type, because it keeps evolving from every generation, and every generation brings their own thing to the table. That’s the greatest thing about it.
So there you have it, only one Zac Efron fan had watched it and he was too afraid to use a real name, age or even gender for all we know. Is it so genuinely awful someone would just lie like that? Guess there’s only one way to find out!
… On second thought, nah. However, Glendy does have a point. All someone has to do is make a record of what’s going on in the festivals and parties happening all over the globe. Hasn’t that always been the most exciting thing about EDM?
