Studio 666
Studio 666 is a 2022 American comedy horror film directed by BJ McDonnell and written by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes, based on a story from Dave Grohl. Grohl stars, alongside his Foo Fighters bandmates Taylor Hawkins (in his final film appearance), Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Rami Jaffee. Whitney Cummings, Leslie Grossman, Will Forte, Jenna Ortega and Jeff Garlin co-star for the ensemble cast. "Studio 666" is the first non-documentary film to feature the Foo Fighters; the band was previously the subject of "" (2011) and "" (2014). The film was released in the United  States on February 25, 2022, by Open Road Films, and received mixed reviews. Plot. In 1993 Encino, Skye Willow, the lead singer of the rock band Dream Widow, is crawling along the floor with a broken leg, followed closely by the band's frontman, Greg Nole, who is holding a hammer. Skye sees the body of another band member, who has had his jaw broken by Greg, before Greg drives the hammer through her forehead and repeatedly hits her head with it, crushing her skull. Greg hangs himself from a window. In 2019, the Foo Fighters are pressured by their  manager Jeremy Shill to overcome their writer's block and record a new album. The group move into the mansion, where frontman Dave Grohl becomes fascinated with the house as a source of inspiration. One of their tech helps, Krug, is electrocuted by a wire and the band decides to dedicate their album to him. Grohl finds a basement containing satanic objects and is possessed by the deceased frontman after listening to a demo tape. Under the demon's control, Grohl forces the band to continue production on the album. Later, a delivery man named Darren, who had earlier tried  to give Grohl a demo tape, is decapitated outside the manor by an unknown figure with hedge clippers. The next day, as guitarist Chris Shiflett is cooking on the grill, the same figure pushes his face onto it. As Chris attempts to escape, he has his head smashed with the grill cover and is stabbed repeatedly in the neck, before the figure is revealed to be Grohl. The band later finds the corpse of Darren, but Grohl convinces them not to call the police and takes their phones. After watching Grohl eat Chris, the band members soon learn of the  mansion's backstory and Grohl's possession with the help of a neighbor, Samantha. To exorcise Grohl, they need to find a book needed to free him of the possession. As Samantha and Rami Jaffee have sex, they are both killed when Grohl sneaks under the bed and drives a chainsaw through their heads, before cutting them in half. Drummer Taylor Hawkins is pressured by Grohl to finish the song while Nate Mendel and Pat Smear retrieve the book from the basement. Taylor finishes the song and is partially decapitated by Grohl with a cymbal. Mendel and Smear free Grohl  from the possession, and the souls of the Dream Widow band members send the demon to hell. However, Jeremy and real estate developer Barb Weems ambush the remaining members, revealing that they planned the whole thing. While Smear is fixing a car from underneath, Mendel is stabbed in the eye, causing him to accidentally hit the gas, which runs over Smear's head and runs over Barb. As Mendel gets out of the car to help Barb, she stabs him through the chin and dies alongside him. Grohl battles Jeremy only to back down in horror when Jeremy tells him  of the album's success and the start of his solo career. One year later, Grohl, the only Foo Fighter left, prepares to perform a solo concert, with marks of possession around his eyes. Cast. Foo Fighters: Other: Production. In November 2021, it was reported that a film starring the Foo Fighters entitled "Studio 666" had been shot in secret. John Ramsey and James A. Rota produced the film, while the bandmates served as executive producers. "Hatchet III" filmmaker BJ McDonell directed the film, working from a script written by Jeff Bulher and Rebecca Hughes, based on a story from  Grohl inspired by their experiences recording their tenth album. Filming took place in the same house the band recorded their album "Medicine at Midnight". Nearing the end of filming in early 2020, production was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Production resumed in Los Angeles months later, becoming one of the first films to do so during the pandemic. Six days of filming were planned to finish the film, but it would ultimately span three weeks due to the regulations put in place to film safely. According to Grohl, the band recorded a whole album  for the in-movie fictional band Dream Widow. The album was released on March 25, 2022. Release. "Studio 666" was released theatrically on February 25, 2022, by Open Road Films. The film was held on the world premiere in TCL Chinese Theatre on Hollywood in February 16, 2022. According to social media analytic RelishMix, the marketing campaign made 97.9 million interactions online, "in line with horror genre norms". The film released as a digital rent on March 18. Reception. Box office. In the United States and Canada, "Studio 666" was released alongside "Cyrano", and was projected to gross $2–5  million from 2,306 theaters in its opening weekend. The film earned $1.54 million in its opening weekend. Men made up 58% of the audience during its opening, with those in the age range of 25–44 comprising 53% of ticket sales and those between 18–44 comprising 73%. The ethnic breakdown of the audience showed that 69% were Caucasian, 18% Hispanic and Latino Americans, 3% African American, and 10% Asian or other. The film dropped out of the box office top ten in its second weekend, finishing twelfth with $342,262. Critical response. PostTrak reported 66% of audience members gave it  a positive score, with 46% saying they would definitely recommend it. Megan Navarro of "Bloody Disgusting" called "Studio 666" "an entertaining jam session full of gore, laughs, and endearing moments between the band". In "Paste", Matt Donato wrote: "It might run its welcome a bit long and struggle with more juvenile gags, but it’s still a proper midnighter that’ll have you barking (in laughter) at the moon." Ed Masley, writing for "Arizona Republic", said it was "plenty gory" and "definitely rocks", but criticized the humor. Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" gave the film one star, saying it "sadly  conforms to the horror-comedy tendency of being neither properly scary nor properly funny". He found it "disconcerting" that the premise involved "violent and horrible things that happened back in the 90s", including suicide.