The comedy metal legends recorded the track for Kung Fu Panda 4 and got Awkwafina, Bryan Cranston, and even Dustin Hoffman for the video
Jack Black and Kyle Gass took over the Kung Fu Panda 4 premiere to film an impromptu music video for Tenacious D’s cover of — wait for it — Britney Spears’ classic, “…Baby One More Time.”
In the clip, Black and Gass strut around the red carpet, doing dance moves and jump-kicking while belting along to the D’s hard rock take on the 1998 pop smash. Black also ropes in a bunch of his Kung Fu Panda 4 castmates, dancing with Awkwafina, karate-chopping Bryan Cranston, and taking a punch from Ke Huy Quan.
Dustin Hoffman even makes a cameo, though Black respectfully lets the storied actor off with just a hug. Actually, we take that back: If 95-year-old James Hong can pretend to stab Black in the head for the bit, Hoffman could at least put a little more effort into what’ll probably be his one and only Tenacious D music video credit (the highlight of anyone’s career, naturally).
While the red carpet video features a truncated version of Tenacious D’s cover of “…Baby One More Time,” a full version appears on the Kung Fu Panda 4 soundtrack, out today, March 8 (alongside the movie itself).
Tenacious D haven’t released an album since 2018’s Post-Apocalypto, but they’ve stayed busy in recent years with a steady stream of loose singles. They’ve covered “Time Warp” from Rocky Horror, the Beatles’ “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “The End,” a medley of Who songs, and — most recently — Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” They’ve also shared a handful of original tunes, like last year’s “Video Games” and 2020’s “5 Needs.”
