Wayne's World 2 is a 1993 American comedy film starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as hosts of a public-access television cable television show in Aurora, Illinois. The film is the sequel to Wayne's World (1992), which was adapted from a sketch on NBC's Saturday Night Live.
Wayne's World 2 | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Stephen Surjik |
Produced by | Lorne Michaels |
Screenplay by | Mike Myers Bonnie Turner Terry Turner |
Based on | Wayne's World by Mike Myers |
Starring |
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Music by | Carter Burwell |
Cinematography | Francis Kenny |
Edited by | Malcolm Campbell |
Production company | NBC Films |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 95 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $40 million |
Box office | $48.2 million |
Screenplay
Rock and roll fans Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar now host their public-access television show, Wayne's World, from an abandoned factory in Aurora, Illinois. After an Aerosmith concert, Wayne has a dream in which he meets Jim Morrison and a "weird naked Indian" in a desert. Morrison convinces Wayne that his destiny is to organize a major music festival. Wayne and Garth dub the concert "Waynestock" and hire Morrison's former roadie, Del Preston. Their early attempts to sign bands and sell tickets fail, and Wayne wonders if the endeavor is futile.
Wayne's girlfriend Cassandra, singer of the band Crucial Taunt, has a new producer, Bobby Cahn, who tries to pull her away from Wayne and Illinois. Garth meets a beautiful woman, Honey Hornée. After Wayne admits spying on her due to his suspicion of Bobby's ulterior motives, Cassandra breaks up with him and becomes engaged to Bobby. Honey Hornée attempts to manipulate Garth into killing her ex-husband, but Garth ends the relationship.
Tickets are sold for Waynestock but no bands arrive. Leaving Garth to keep the rowdy crowd in check, Wayne disrupts Cassandra's wedding before escaping the ceremony with her and they get back together, in a scene closely resembling the finale of The Graduate. Meanwhile, Garth has stage fright during the concert. Wayne returns to find the bands have still not arrived.
In the dream desert, Wayne and Garth consult Morrison, who says that the bands will not come and that all that matters is they tried. They become lost in the desert. Finding this unacceptable, Wayne and Garth reenact the ending of Thelma & Louise, driving their car off a cliff while trying to find the bands. Finally, Wayne and Garth stage an ending in which the bands arrive and Waynestock is a success. Bobby arrives to Waynestock to get Cassandra but is not allowed inside.
After the concert, the park is covered with trash and the "weird naked Indian" cries. Wayne and Garth begin to remove the litter, promising to clean the entire park.
- Mike Myers as Wayne Campbell
- Dana Carvey as Garth Algar
- Tia Carrere as Cassandra Wong
- Christopher Walken as Robert G. "Bobby" Cahn
- Kevin Pollak as Jerry Segel
- Ralph Brown as Del Preston
- James Hong as Jeff Wong, Cassandra's father and martial arts expert
- Kim Basinger as Honey Hornée
- Jim Downey as the dubbed voice of Jeff Wong
- Chris Farley as Milton, an aimless friend of Wayne and Garth's
- Ed O'Neill as Glen
- Michael A. Nickles as Jim Morrison
- Larry Sellers as The Naked Indian
- Frank DiLeo as Frankie 'Mr. Big' Sharp
- Lee Tergesen as Terry, Wayne and Garth's bud
- Scott Coffey as a Metalhead
- Drew Barrymore as Bjergen Kjergen
- Olivia d'Abo as Betty Jo
- Charlton Heston as the "good actor" gas station attendant who replaces the "bad actor" Al Hansen
- Jay Leno as Himself
- Heather Locklear as Herself
- Ted McGinley as "Mr. Scream"
- Tim Meadows as Sammy Davis, Jr.
- Robert Smigel and Bob Odenkirk as nerds backstage at the concert
- Bobby Slayton as the Watermelon Guy
- Harry Shearer as "Handsome" Dan
- Rip Taylor as Himself
- Steven Tyler as Himself (lead vocalist of Aerosmith)
- Joe Perry as Himself (lead guitarist of Aerosmith)
- Brad Whitford as Himself (rhythm guitarist of Aerosmith)
- Tom Hamilton as Himself (bassist of Aerosmith)
- Joey Kramer as Himself (drummer of Aerosmith)
- Rich Fulcher as Garth's body double when they "travel to London"
Penelope Spheeris, who directed the first film believes that Myers encouraged the studio not to have her back for the sequel due to personality conflicts with Myers during the making of the first film. She went on to direct another TV to big screen adaptation, The Beverly Hillbillies instead and was replaced by Stephen Surjik for the sequel.
Myers' original script for Wayne's World 2 had Wayne and Garth forming their own country and seceding from the US after finding an ancient scroll, in a story taken from the 1949 British comedy Passport to Pimlico. This version was well into pre-production before it came to light that the studio had no idea the script was based on a previous film and thus had not obtained the rights to Passport to Pimlico. Production was immediately halted—director Surjik said: "I could hear the chainsaws literally chopping the sets down."
Studio executive Sherry Lansing was reportedly furious with Myers and threatened to ruin his life and career if he didn't immediately produce a new script.
Wayne's World 2 received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 61% approval rating, based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The characters are still endearing, but the jokes in Wayne's World 2 are more hit-and-miss the second time around".
Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars, and wrote that Wayne and Garth are "impossible to dislike".
Box office
Although it was intended to be a Christmas season blockbuster, Wayne's World 2 did not receive the box office intake or positive fan reaction that the first film did. Its final North American gross was $48 million, slightly more than its $40 million production budget, but much less than the original film's gross of over $100 million. Wayne's World 2 also suffered from competition from other holiday season blockbusters such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Schindler's List, and The Pelican Brief.
- Wayne's World
- Wayne's World (film)
- List of Saturday Night Live feature films