'Bye Bye Bye': How R-rated 'Red Rocket' found its anti-scammer anthem in an NSync classic

It might sound crazy, but it ain't no lie: This story contains spoilers for the film "Red Rocket."

If you ask Lance Bass, resident cinephile of '90s boy band NSync, it was an easy yes that resurrected the group's 2000 hit "Bye Bye Bye" into the anthem that fuels Sean Baker's provocative new film, "Red Rocket," about a washed-up porn star who returns to his Texas hometown.

Although the era-defining pop group has been on hiatus for nearly two decades, members Bass, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and Justin Timberlake still field nonstop requests to license their chart-topping songs for film and TV. This time, the award-winning writer-director of "Tangerine" and "The Florida Project" wanted to use "Bye Bye Bye" in his next movie — and all five NSyncers had to agree to approve it.

Along with the ask came script pages for scenes that the song would be used in. Not that it took much persuasion or debate, says Bass, now an