Today marks the release of Pitch Perfect, a youthful music-centric comedy that you may be surprised to know ISN'T being released by MTV Films. Yes, despite the absurdly heavy cross-promotion on the network and the story of competing college acapella groups being perfect for the imprint, the movie somehow wound up not being under the official MTV Films banner. Surprised by this oversight, we at the Weekly decided to take a look back at five of MTV Films' proud lineage by spotlighting the studios' most memorable releases
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5. Joe's Apartment (1996)
While not in the history books for being a Hollywood blockbuster, Joe's Apartment is best remembered for two things: 1) Being the first MTV film and 2) Being the best New York City musical starring singing cockroaches released in the '90s. Even though, by box office standards, the film (based on a cherished MTV Short) wasn't the best start MTV Films could have hoped for, late night television airings and the approval of film critic and b-movie champion Joe Bob Briggs have made it a certified cult classic.
4. Beavis and Butt-head Do America (1996)
Much more successful was Beavis and Butt-head's big screen debut Beavis and Butt-head Do America. The film, which at one point held the record for biggest December opening week, proved the network's properties could not only hold the attention of its audience for an hour-and-a-half, but carry a worthy epic that proved to be much more than just a much longer episode on the big screen.
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3. Save the Last Dance (2001)
A surprise hit for the studio, as well as a breakthrough performance for both stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas, Save the Last Dance showed MTV Films excelling at what they do best. Along with proving there's a market for dance-centric films for young people, the movie dealt with a pertinent subject matter (yes, hip-hop and ballet can co-exist!) and also allowed for a music star, in this case Fredro Starr of Onyx, to show his acting chops on a larger platform.
2. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
MTV Films has done a great job on taking chances with movies that could catch on with the young audiences, and they never hit the ball out of the park quite like they did with Napoleon Dynamite. Who would have guessed that this quirky comedy that cost under a half-million dollars to make would go on to become quotable pop culture staple and one of the most memorable comedies of its decade? MTV guessed, that's who.
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1. Jackass 3D (2010)
MTV took a chance on the “Jackass” boys early on in the decade and stuck by them as their painfully elaborate and elaborately painful pranks saw them targeted by parents group and media watchdogs alike. Three movies and a few million dollar budgets later, the team have made jackass-ery a certified art. No, we mean literally as 2010's Jackass 3D made its premiere at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
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