From the top of the worldwide charts to their infamous undoing, Milli Vanilli dominated music headlines in the early 1990s. Now, after making its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Festival, the documentary film “Milli Vanilli” will take a look at the duo’s emergence and ascension, winning the Grammy for Best New Artist, to their downfall after it was revealed they had been lipsyncing during albums and performances. More than 30 years later, it will also try to answer the enduring question: how many people actually knew what was going on behind the scenes? “Milli Vanilli” will premiere exclusively on Paramount+ on Tuesday, Oct. 24. You can watch with a subscription to Paramount Plus.
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How to Watch 'Milli Vanilli' When: Tuesday, October 24, 2023 Where: Paramount Plus Stream: Watch with a subscription to Paramount Plus. Save $20 Now$5.99+ / month paramountplus.com
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- 10/24/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
Girl you know it’s – girl you know it’s – girl you know it’s –. Milli Vanilli’s lip-syncing scandal was one of the biggest pop culture controversies of the 1990s, which is really saying something. That it happened so early in the duo’s career made them both a blip and a punchline in the music world. Now, surviving member Fab Morvan is reflecting on the most trying time of his career ahead of the release of the aptly titled documentary Milli Vanilli this month.
Speaking with The Messenger, Morvan said the public perception turned incredibly fast on Milli Vanilli. “We were not what people thought we were, which is the puppet master of everybody and everything. We were the front people, but behind, there was so much more. Unfortunately, the journalists didn’t investigate properly.” As it turns out, the decision to have both Morvan and Rob Pilatus...
Speaking with The Messenger, Morvan said the public perception turned incredibly fast on Milli Vanilli. “We were not what people thought we were, which is the puppet master of everybody and everything. We were the front people, but behind, there was so much more. Unfortunately, the journalists didn’t investigate properly.” As it turns out, the decision to have both Morvan and Rob Pilatus...
- 10/19/2023
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
"What I'm looking for are *stars*!" Leonine Studios has revealed a trailer for a German movie called Girl You Know It's True, about the infamous duo known as Milli Vanilli, referencing one of their biggest tracks. Paramount+ is also releasing their own official Milli Vanilli doc this fall - it's streaming next week on their platform (in the US only). This movie is a fictionalized biopic version of their story. Dancers Pilatus & Morvan rise to fame in the late 80s and become stars with No.1 hits, even winning a Grammy. However, the duo never sang a word in their songs, always lip syncing. When the truth is finally revealed, they stare into the abyss while the world witnesses one of the biggest scandals in music history. Starring Tijan Njie as Rob & Elan Ben Ali as Fab, plus Matthias Schweighöfer as their sketchy record producer Frank Farian. This is a German...
- 10/16/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Paramount+ is welcoming home some familiar friends (and foes) this month! The streamer is ringing in October with its latest list of new additions, including the premiere of its “Frasier” revival with long-time Dr. Frasier Crane portrayer Kelsey Grammer back to listen to your problems. The platform is also debuting latest entry in Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” franchise with the prequel film “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines.”
There’s something new (or something old) for everybody, though, with the streamer adding nearly 200 titles to its library, including originals, exclusives, library films and TV series, and sports events.
Check out The Streamable’s top picks for what’s new this month on Paramount+!
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What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Paramount+ in October 2023? “Bargain” | Thursday, Oct. 5
The hit Korean thriller series will make its...
There’s something new (or something old) for everybody, though, with the streamer adding nearly 200 titles to its library, including originals, exclusives, library films and TV series, and sports events.
Check out The Streamable’s top picks for what’s new this month on Paramount+!
Save $20 Now $5.99+ / month paramountplus.com
For a Limited Time, Get 1 Month of Paramount+ With Code: Lioness
What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Paramount+ in October 2023? “Bargain” | Thursday, Oct. 5
The hit Korean thriller series will make its...
- 9/29/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
"We're not saying 'no' to this powerful producer." Paramount+ has revealed the trailer for a documentary film titled Milli Vanilli, an honest look back at "music's biggest scandal." This initially premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival this year, and it's also playing at the Mill Valley Film Festival before streaming in October. "For over 30 years, the story of Milli Vanilli – in particular Rob and Fab – has been reduced to sensational headlines," explains director Luke Korem. "With this documentary, we pull back the curtain on pop music. Featuring interviews with the real singers, record executives, the producer mastermind behind the deception, and exclusive interviews with Rob and Fab, we unveil the truth of this complex, exciting, and dramatic story." Milli Vanilli was a German-French R&b duo from Munich. The group was founded by Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. Moran comments on the doc saying,...
- 9/18/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
A new feature-length documentary digging into the true story of the infamous R&b duo Milli Vanilli has been acquired by Paramount+. The film, simply titled Milli Vanilli, will premiere on Tuesday, October 24th in the U.S. and Canada, and on Wednesday, October 25th in the UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
Milli Vanilli goes directly behind the scenes through exclusive interviews with the group’s members Fab Morvan and the late Rob Pilatus, as well as the real singers, record executives, and the producer behind the duo, who became one of the most popular groups of the late ’80s and early ’90s until it was discovered that they had been lip-synching the entire time. Pilatus died of an accidental alcohol and prescription drug overdose in 1998.
“Finally — the true story of Milli Vanilli has been told!” Morvan said in a statement. “I’m thankful...
Milli Vanilli goes directly behind the scenes through exclusive interviews with the group’s members Fab Morvan and the late Rob Pilatus, as well as the real singers, record executives, and the producer behind the duo, who became one of the most popular groups of the late ’80s and early ’90s until it was discovered that they had been lip-synching the entire time. Pilatus died of an accidental alcohol and prescription drug overdose in 1998.
“Finally — the true story of Milli Vanilli has been told!” Morvan said in a statement. “I’m thankful...
- 9/13/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Film News
A new feature-length documentary digging into the true story of the infamous R&b duo Milli Vanilli has been acquired by Paramount+. The film, simply titled Milli Vanilli, will premiere on Tuesday, October 24th in the U.S. and Canada, and on Wednesday, October 25th in the UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
Milli Vanilli goes directly behind the scenes through exclusive interviews with the group’s members Fab Morvan and the late Rob Pilatus, as well as the real singers, record executives, and the producer behind the duo, who became one of the most popular groups of the late ’80s and early ’90s until it was discovered that they had been lip-synching the entire time. Pilatus died of an accidental alcohol and prescription drug overdose in 1998.
“Finally — the true story of Milli Vanilli has been told!” Morvan said in a statement. “I’m thankful...
Milli Vanilli goes directly behind the scenes through exclusive interviews with the group’s members Fab Morvan and the late Rob Pilatus, as well as the real singers, record executives, and the producer behind the duo, who became one of the most popular groups of the late ’80s and early ’90s until it was discovered that they had been lip-synching the entire time. Pilatus died of an accidental alcohol and prescription drug overdose in 1998.
“Finally — the true story of Milli Vanilli has been told!” Morvan said in a statement. “I’m thankful...
- 9/13/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Music
There is a reason for the Carlos Santana documentary, “Carlos,” to take its title not from the guitar legend’s last name and that of his eponymous band. The film, which received a gala world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, focuses more on Santana’s biographical details recounted previously in his 2014 memoir, “The Universal Tone,” than his illustrious career. Of course, music is inseparable from the life of a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer born into a musical family, but the documentary is more about wrestling with success, spirituality, addiction and childhood trauma from sexual abuse.
Filmmaker Rudy Valdez unfurls a chronological narrative, from Santana’s formative years in Tijuana, Mexico, to his triumphant 1999 “Supernatural” album, employing archives of photos, concert footage, talk-show appearances, home videos and a few newly conducted interviews, including a roundtable of Santana’s immediate family members. But amid the narrative progression Valdez has occasionally...
Filmmaker Rudy Valdez unfurls a chronological narrative, from Santana’s formative years in Tijuana, Mexico, to his triumphant 1999 “Supernatural” album, employing archives of photos, concert footage, talk-show appearances, home videos and a few newly conducted interviews, including a roundtable of Santana’s immediate family members. But amid the narrative progression Valdez has occasionally...
- 6/18/2023
- by Martin Tsai
- The Wrap
A revealing new documentary takes an inside look at the most infamous lip-syncing scandal in pop music history
You could argue that, at least in the realm of pop music, the year 1989 belonged to Milli Vanilli.
The German-French pop duo, formed barely a year earlier by the German producer Frank Farian, had already barnstormed through European charts with their first single Girl You Know It’s True. The song hit the US airwaves in March with stratospheric impact. Their debut album sold over 8m copies and spawned three No 1 singles; it stayed in the top 10 for the rest of the year. Young fans, predominantly women, screamed along to Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan’s tight choreography and blatant eye candy – long braided hair extensions that swung freely when they danced, come-hither stares, chiseled abs, shoulder pads and spandex shorts, incredible energy and incredibly 80s dance moves.
You could argue that, at least in the realm of pop music, the year 1989 belonged to Milli Vanilli.
The German-French pop duo, formed barely a year earlier by the German producer Frank Farian, had already barnstormed through European charts with their first single Girl You Know It’s True. The song hit the US airwaves in March with stratospheric impact. Their debut album sold over 8m copies and spawned three No 1 singles; it stayed in the top 10 for the rest of the year. Young fans, predominantly women, screamed along to Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan’s tight choreography and blatant eye candy – long braided hair extensions that swung freely when they danced, come-hither stares, chiseled abs, shoulder pads and spandex shorts, incredible energy and incredibly 80s dance moves.
- 6/15/2023
- by Adrian Horton
- The Guardian - Film News
Back in 1990, the downfall of European pop duo Milli Vanilli seemed like an open-and-shut case of disgrace.
They — Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus — were the lip-synching scofflaws, convicted in the court of public opinion of fraud against a generation of FM Top 40 radio listeners robbed of our precious sense that music and its artistic authorship were directly linked. The punishment? Permanent professional ostracism and punchline status — though when Pilatus died of an accidental drug overdose in 1998, the reality became even more punitive.
Luke Korem’s new documentary Milli Vanilli attempts to give the “Blame It on the Rain” non-singers 106 minutes of re-evaluation. Were they perpetrators or victims? If they were some gradation of the latter, who were the actual villains? If they were some gradation of the former, did the punishment fit the crime? What did Rob and Fab actually do, what was their actual sin and why did audiences respond the way they did?...
They — Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus — were the lip-synching scofflaws, convicted in the court of public opinion of fraud against a generation of FM Top 40 radio listeners robbed of our precious sense that music and its artistic authorship were directly linked. The punishment? Permanent professional ostracism and punchline status — though when Pilatus died of an accidental drug overdose in 1998, the reality became even more punitive.
Luke Korem’s new documentary Milli Vanilli attempts to give the “Blame It on the Rain” non-singers 106 minutes of re-evaluation. Were they perpetrators or victims? If they were some gradation of the latter, who were the actual villains? If they were some gradation of the former, did the punishment fit the crime? What did Rob and Fab actually do, what was their actual sin and why did audiences respond the way they did?...
- 6/13/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It’s one of the inside-out realities of our era that scandal, if you give it enough time, turns into myth. So it is with the story of Milli Vanilli, the German-French R&b pop duo of the late ’80s and early ’90s who, having sold close to 50 million records, were revealed to be a fake: a pair of lip-syncing Euro pretty boys who hadn’t sung a note on any of their hits or at any of their concerts.
Once they’d been unmasked, the rise and fall of Milli Vanilli played out on two levels. The first was the spectacular embarrassing bad joke of it all — though it was never just a joke, since Milli Vanilli’s fans felt a tremendous sense of anger and betrayal at having been fooled. (The joke was on them.) The second level recognized a crucial and obvious truth: that the scandal wasn...
Once they’d been unmasked, the rise and fall of Milli Vanilli played out on two levels. The first was the spectacular embarrassing bad joke of it all — though it was never just a joke, since Milli Vanilli’s fans felt a tremendous sense of anger and betrayal at having been fooled. (The joke was on them.) The second level recognized a crucial and obvious truth: that the scandal wasn...
- 6/12/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Nuclear panic has been part of American life for years. Whole generations, past and present, have defined their childhoods on the fear of nuclear annihilation—but tucked up in the snug little pocket known as the Northwest one small town sees things differently. In Irene Lusztig’s new documentary “Richland,” premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, we are introduced to a mindset of pride, shame and unrelenting identity that comes at a cost. “Richland” is a unique and heart-wrenching portrait of a town willingly taken advantage of and is a necessary documentary in an age of nuclear unease.
The film tells the true story of its namesake town, a small Washington state suburb positioned right next to the Hanford Nuclear Site. It was active back in the 1940s when Richland was a working town producing weapons-grade plutonium—the very ammunition that was responsible for the atomic bomb devastation on Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The film tells the true story of its namesake town, a small Washington state suburb positioned right next to the Hanford Nuclear Site. It was active back in the 1940s when Richland was a working town producing weapons-grade plutonium—the very ammunition that was responsible for the atomic bomb devastation on Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- 6/11/2023
- by Lex Briscuso
- The Wrap
With a running time of 96 minutes, Frank Marshall’s Rather, a documentary about the life and times of Dan Rather, is premiering at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival opposite Luke Korem’s Milli Vanilli, a 106-minute documentary about the life and times of Milli Vanilli. I know that both documentaries exist in their own vacuums and the comparison is apples to rutabagas, but I’m still confident in saying this: A definitive documentary about Dan Rather is going to require more time to properly tell its story than a definitive documentary about Milli Vanilli.
In its home stretch, Rather mentions that for a young generation weaned on social media, Dan Rather is an amusingly cantankerous Twitter truth-teller, but those new fans have very little awareness that he was once a revered (and briefly disgraced) journalist and broadcast nightly news anchor. Leaving aside that those Rather-adoring whelps similarly don’t...
In its home stretch, Rather mentions that for a young generation weaned on social media, Dan Rather is an amusingly cantankerous Twitter truth-teller, but those new fans have very little awareness that he was once a revered (and briefly disgraced) journalist and broadcast nightly news anchor. Leaving aside that those Rather-adoring whelps similarly don’t...
- 6/11/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Stan Lee” — a documentary on the man who, along with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, created Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther and many other iconic Marvel characters —
selectively focuses on the comic book legend’s career and, to a much lesser extent, his personal life, pruning considerable information about his other ventures and legal disputes as seen on Wikipedia. It’s co-produced by Marvel Studios, so the film, which receives its world premiere at Tribeca Festival and streams on Disney Plus on June 16, expectedly sings his praises.
Lee himself posthumously supplies the first-person voiceover narration, albeit indirectly through various archival interviews and speeches given over the years, which filmmaker David Gelb (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”) has carefully spliced together based on the chronology of seminal events in his lifetime. To illustrate the narration, Gelb has employed conventional archival footage and photos as well as not-so-conventional comic strips and clay figures.
selectively focuses on the comic book legend’s career and, to a much lesser extent, his personal life, pruning considerable information about his other ventures and legal disputes as seen on Wikipedia. It’s co-produced by Marvel Studios, so the film, which receives its world premiere at Tribeca Festival and streams on Disney Plus on June 16, expectedly sings his praises.
Lee himself posthumously supplies the first-person voiceover narration, albeit indirectly through various archival interviews and speeches given over the years, which filmmaker David Gelb (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”) has carefully spliced together based on the chronology of seminal events in his lifetime. To illustrate the narration, Gelb has employed conventional archival footage and photos as well as not-so-conventional comic strips and clay figures.
- 6/11/2023
- by Martin Tsai
- The Wrap
Some three decades after one of the biggest scandals in the history of pop music, Milli Vanilli still commands a certain fascination for those who lived through the 1980s. Their debut album went six times platinum and they won the Best New Artist Grammy in 1990, but later that year Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus, the faces of the group, had to do a mea culpa because they had not actually sung on the album.
Luke Korem’s documentary, “Milli Vanilli,” which receives its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival and will stream on Paramount+ in the fall, is well-researched and polished, even if it’s essentially a feature-length episode of “Behind the Music.”
The movie traces the story as far back as their humble beginnings. Pilatus, born in Germany to an American soldier and a strip dancer, lived in an orphanage until age 4. Morvan, from a broken family, moved at 18 from Paris to Munich,...
Luke Korem’s documentary, “Milli Vanilli,” which receives its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival and will stream on Paramount+ in the fall, is well-researched and polished, even if it’s essentially a feature-length episode of “Behind the Music.”
The movie traces the story as far back as their humble beginnings. Pilatus, born in Germany to an American soldier and a strip dancer, lived in an orphanage until age 4. Morvan, from a broken family, moved at 18 from Paris to Munich,...
- 6/11/2023
- by Martin Tsai
- The Wrap
More than three decades have passed since Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan — together and forever known as Milli Vanilli – took the music world by storm, and fell from grace even faster. Their six-times-platinum debut album in the U.S., “Girl You Know It’s True,” was accompanied by a marketing blitz that produced three No. 1 singles, a trio of American Music Awards and a Best New Artist Grammy before it was revealed that the duo had not sung on the album. An epic level of public humiliation ensured, as the duo were compelled to return their Grammy and nearly everyone who’d worked with them pleaded ignorance, often disingenuously.
Luke Korem – who directed the new “Milli Vanilli” documentary, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival – was just seven years old during that 18-month-long real-life drama, which tragically culminated with Pilatus’ fatal drug overdose in 1998.
“I’m a child of the ‘90s,” Korem explains about the doc,...
Luke Korem – who directed the new “Milli Vanilli” documentary, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival – was just seven years old during that 18-month-long real-life drama, which tragically culminated with Pilatus’ fatal drug overdose in 1998.
“I’m a child of the ‘90s,” Korem explains about the doc,...
- 6/8/2023
- by Roy Trakin
- Variety Film + TV
In a somewhat surprising announcement, this week, it was announced that Kim Cattrall will make an appearance in the Season 2 finale of “And Just Like That” — but she won’t interact with the rest of the show’s cast. Cattrall, who plays publicist Samantha Jones in “Sex and the City,” is expected to make a brief cameo appearance in the Max sequel series. No other details have been released at this time, but Cattrall had previously been adamant that she would not participate in the show, preferring to pursue other roles.
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Season 6 of the popular dark anthology series “Black Mirror” is set to debut on Netflix on June 15. After the first two seasons and a special aired in the United Kingdom, the series became a Netflix exclusive series for Season 3. The show features...
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Season 6 of the popular dark anthology series “Black Mirror” is set to debut on Netflix on June 15. After the first two seasons and a special aired in the United Kingdom, the series became a Netflix exclusive series for Season 3. The show features...
- 6/2/2023
- by Fern Siegel
- The Streamable
A feature doc about controversial pop group Milli Vanilli has been picked up by Paramount+.
The eponymous doc, which tells the story of the duo who were forced to return their Grammy Award for Best New Artist after it was revealed that they didn’t sing on any of their records, is premiering at the Tribeca Festival.
The streamer will launch the doc in the U.S. as well as in Canada, the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. WME was screening for buyers earlier this year.
Produced by MRC and MTV Entertainment Studios, Milli Vanilli tells the story of Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan, who became fast friends during their youth in Germany. With Rob coming from a broken home and Fabrice having left an abusive household, they shared a similar upbringing, as well as a future goal: to become famous superstars. In a few short years,...
The eponymous doc, which tells the story of the duo who were forced to return their Grammy Award for Best New Artist after it was revealed that they didn’t sing on any of their records, is premiering at the Tribeca Festival.
The streamer will launch the doc in the U.S. as well as in Canada, the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. WME was screening for buyers earlier this year.
Produced by MRC and MTV Entertainment Studios, Milli Vanilli tells the story of Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan, who became fast friends during their youth in Germany. With Rob coming from a broken home and Fabrice having left an abusive household, they shared a similar upbringing, as well as a future goal: to become famous superstars. In a few short years,...
- 6/1/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
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