THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE
Unable to get studio backing for the feature film version of their improv comedy stage show "Kentucky Fried Theater," comedy upstarts Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker instead made the film independently in 1977, achieving a sizable box-office hit despite a low budget. Directed by a young John Landis, this collection of comedy sketches, which irreverently parodied film and television, featured members of famous improv troupes The Groundlings and Second City, plus a smattering of recognizable cameos from Bill Bixby, Barry Dennen, Tony Dow, Henry Gibson, George Lazenby and Donald Sutherland. The film’s success established the young mavericks’ bankability, with Landis next hired to direct NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE for Universal while Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker were able to get AIRPLANE! made at Paramount. Boasting a more late night, R-rated sensibility than AIRPLANE!, THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE’s raunchy, surreal and joyfully satirical sense of humor — in short, it's very '70s — will impress comedy fans as an enduring cult classic. DIR John Landis; SCR Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker; PROD Robert K. Weiss. U.S., 1977, color, 83 min. RATED R
In Memoriam: Jim Abrahams (1944–2024)
Run Time: 83 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, March 28, 2025
Genre: Comedy