Factual

Paramount+ has greenlit a new documentary that will explore the legacy of one of the most enduring genres of music in modern pop culture: boy bands.

The project will be produced by MTV Entertainment Studios in partnership with Gunpowder & Sky, with two of the key players during the height of the boy band era serving as producers: music manager Johnny Wright (New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Britney Spears) and Gunpowder & Sky CEO Van Toffler (TRL, the MTV VMAs, Words & Music, Tupac: Resurrection). Filmmaker Tamra Davis (CB4, Billy Madison) is set to direct.

The as-yet-untitled film is built on the notion that the most popular music of the late ’90s and early ’00s has been overlooked both in terms of its musicianship as well as its choreography, viral promotion and songcraft, much of which paved the way for today’s biggest stars. The film will include interviews with the band members and personalities who shaped the era, like New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys (pictured), *NSYNC, 98 Degrees and more, while explaining the genre’s popularity and contextualizing it within pop music’s most important periods.

Along with new interviews and material, the doc will also feature archival concert footage, unaired interviews and candid clips of group members, songwriters, producers, managers, family members and fans.

The announcement of the project comes on the heels of the two recently released Paramount+ music docs produced by Gunpowder & Sky: I Wanna Rock: The ’80s Metal Dream, about the rise and fall of so-called “hair metal,” and Sometimes When We Touch, about the soft-rock revolution of the ’70s and ’80s.