Docuseries to Dig Deep on Blues Brothers

Aykroyd and Belushi's wife sign on to project that will feature unreleased material
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 28, 2021 6:31 PM CDT
Docuseries to Dig Deep on Blues Brothers
Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues, left, and John Belushi as Jake Blues perform on "Saturday Night Live" in 1978.   (AP Photo/NBC, Al Levine)

When the film the Blues Brothers was honored last year, Dan Aykroyd says, the renewed attention "made us realize there remains more to this story." So a docuseries about Jake and Elwood Blues, as played by Aykroyd and John Belushi, who died in 1982, is being assembled, per the Hollywood Reporter. Utopia Originals will take the production lead, working with Aykroyd and Belushi’s widow Judith Belushi-Pisano, and her son Lucas Pisano. Aykroyd expects a comprehensive project.

"Judy and I are pleased to collaborate with Utopia Originals to produce the only authorized, optimized, socio-forensic examination of the Blues Brothers and the world that created and embraces them," he said. The docuseries will include material not publicly seen and cover the history and legacy of the characters and actors. That will include the real-life friendship of John Belushi and Aykroyd. The release also said "the sensitivities of race in the music industry" will be explored. "Much will be revealed that even I, as one of the originators, might not have been aware of," Aykroyd said.

The characters began in skits on Saturday Night Live. They hit the big time when the film was released in 1980, per the Collider. "The image of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, dressed in matching suits, donning sunglasses and fedoras, is globally iconic," a Utopia executive said. Then there was the music. The series, untitled so far, will celebrate the blues, rhythm and blues and gospel. And it will "continue Dan and John’s original mission to share their passion for this music and, foremost, to celebrate the artists who created it," Belushi-Pisano said. (More The Blues Brothers stories.)

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