Joel and Servo read Crow's script
Earth vs. Soup is a film written and directed by Crow T. Robot.
History[]
During Experiment #313, Crow presents Joel and Tom with a screenplay he has been working on in the hopes of selling it for big money back on Earth. The screenplay, Earth vs. Soup, involves humanity doing battle with a giant bowl of soup.
Development[]
Over the following years, Crow would continue to develop Earth vs. Soup, including another screenplay, Chocolate Jones and the Temple of Funk, which Mike Nelson describes as "Earth vs. Soup with blaxploitation lingo."
During Experiment #704, Crow's Earth vs. Soup script is sold to a studio by Dr. Clayton Forrester and Pearl. While Crow vows to not allow the script to be tampered with, he folds immediately and agrees to do revisions.
Production[]
The budget is set to $30M, but costs, fees, etc. mean that Crow will get about $800 to shoot the movie. Despite the low production budget, the studio insists on casting Kevin Bacon. Dr. Forrester and Pearl use 45% of the budget to travel to The Satellite of Love for a script readthrough, which doesn't go well when everyone loses track of the script revisions, despite it being only one page.
Crow finally begins shooting, with Mike wearing a name tag that reads "Kevin Bacon" and Tom acting as "Judy", Crow's production assistant. Crow pays little attention to the actors or the scene, declaring that most of the material will be added in post.
Post-production[]
Dr. F and Pearl hold a preview screening, where the film performs poorly. The audience didn't like the plot, but did like Mike. One audience member, Tony, felt that his mild allergic reaction to shellfish would prevent him from recommending the film. Most of the other recommendations prove difficult to act on, such as the audience's dislike for Cruella de Ville, who is not in the film.
In the end, the studio decides to release the film as a trailer and also makes Crow remove his name from the film.
Behind-the-scenes[]
Crow's difficulty in bringing Earth vs Soup to the big screen and his frustration with the studio is a reference to the real-life problems the MST3K crew had in producing Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie.