During a rare performance at Atlanta’s Shaky Knees Music Festival on May 6, Jack Black announced that he and his bro-for-life Kyle Gass would be returning to theaters with a sequel to Tenacious D’s 2006 stoner comedy, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny.
JB delivered the on-stage announcement with the band’s typical nonchalance, saying, “I don’t know where you’ll be able to see it,but we have decided that it’s happening and it’s coming out.”
are you ready to rock?#tenaciousd pic.twitter.com/CPQzep7XEC
— Jack Black (@jackblack) May 5, 2018
As unexpected and chuckle-worthy as this information is, those people hoping to check out the upcoming sequel to the Pick of Destiny should probably start lowering their expectations (or shopping for powerful weed). The comedy duo has a devoted bunch of fans, but that group has never been much for flocking to the theaters. The original film Pick of Destiny released to unenthusiastic reviews and a dismal $8 million haul.
(That said, in the intervening years, the film has become a beloved option for people looking to giggle for 90 minutes on a lazy, overcast afternoon.)
That middling success seems almost by design, however. Both Jack Black and Kyle Gass have repeated eschewed material gains in favor of doing things their way. They left an HBO show when the network threatened to strip their EP credits. They actively avoid big venues. For the first film, Jack Black opted to take a fraction of his typical salary (and then split it with Gass) in favor of maintaining creative control.
That commitment to control makes it difficult to get a Tenacious D project off the ground. In spite of that challenge, Black has returned to his musical side project time and again over the course of a prestigious acting career. Every time he notches a few wins, it seems Black lets loose by embarking on another musical adventure with KG.
Tenacious D may not be the most lucrative (or well-known) part of his career, but the group is Black at his most earnest.