American Idiot film finally gets a greenlight.

[Adair Haywind]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 11:46am

From HBO:

 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Broadways-AMERICAN-IDIOT-to-Be-Adapted-into-HBO-Film-Starring-Billie-Joe-Armstrong-20161006

[gypsy101]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 11:49am

wow i could have sworn this was dead in the water. looking forward to it!

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 11:49am

I wonder if Rolin Jones is still writing it?

[10086sunset]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 11:52am

Can't believe this is actually happening...Wonder why it finally got the green light now...

Updated On: 10/6/16 at 11:52 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 12:00pm

This is essentially just going to be... a big music video, right?

[bdn223]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 12:38pm

Kad- esentially

I wonder if how artsy and symbolic they are going to go while filming.  As I have said before on here, I don't consider American Idiot to be a  musical, but rather an "experimental theater" performance piece. The plot is extremely hard to follow/non existent, but the purpose of the musical was more the combination of the jaw dropping visualization of Green Day's graphic musical response of Gen X and Millenials coming of age in a post 9/11 world. 

 

On a different note I think HBO are definitely trying to dip their toe into the "Live" musical game. HBO can get away with much darker and adult musicals then Broadcast television so I wouldn't be surprised that if this goes well they would look into doing Spring Awakening, Next to Normal,  or Fun Home. This is also a great route for these more experimental musicals to be adapted for the screen, as a director can be more focused on Awards Prestige then potential Box office.  

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 12:54pm

So excited that this is finally happening!  Love this show.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 12:55pm

If Michael Mayer's American Idiot read "experimental performance piece" to you, you clearly haven't seen enough actual experimental performance art. It was pretty straight forward as rock operas go.

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 1:04pm

It's a little more kaleidoscopic than most rock operas (other than the Ken Russell "Tommy"; the biggest feature of the show was the juxtaposition of parallel situations in different places at the same or similar times, with a single lyric sometimes containing a duplicate or triplicate meaning to the City, Jingletown and Middle East plots simultaneously.

[bk]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 1:28pm

This is just press agentry by Billie Joe Armstrong and company.  When you get an announcement from HBO you'll know it's happening.  Until then, it's just the usual BS business as usual.

[bdn223]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 1:59pm

Neonlights that is why I used "quotation marks" because I know it is not a true  Experimental Performance piece, but American Idiot is not a standard musical or Rock Opera. My reasoning is that unlike most musicals were the book and music define the plot, American Idiot is much more reliant on staging and visuals to do that. As Darquegk mentioned a single lyric was often representative of 3 different actions occurring in the 3 characters lives. The plot was defined by the performance instead of the performance being defined by the plot. The show has much more in common with a dance piece like Swan Lake or a Cirque du Soleil performance piece then it does traditional musical. 

Updated On: 10/6/16 at 01:59 PM

[Oak2]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 2:05pm

Not personally a fan of the work (show and album), but I'm happy for those who are fans and have been waiting for this, and likewise hopeful that this will be successful and lead to more attempts for filming and broadcasting of darker works, as bdn223 stated earlier.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 2:17pm

I didn't say it was a traditional musical. I said it was a rock opera. I'm not going to get into a fight with semantics with you.

[SomeOtherMe]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 4:11pm

Though I definitely feel like they'll have to flesh out the storyline much more to make this truly work as a film, I'm excited to see how this will turn out if it actually ends up happening. Saw it on Broadway and loved it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 6:02pm

I wish HBO would have just filmed the Broadway cast.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 10/6/16 at 10:48pm

I was lucky enough to read the film script written by Michael Mayer about 6 months ago. It's an incredibly ambitious 2 1/2 hour balls-out drama containing all the songs from the Broadway score, set amidst a fully fleshed out story happening in Central California, NYC, Iraq, up and down the Eastern Seaboard and back in Central California again. Very little of it feels like a music video or "performance piece". They've found a way to seriously ground every song in real environments with huge batches of exposition crammed into the staging of each number. I think the script was about 150 pages long, which is massive for a film script.

I thought it was brilliant but punishing, and I wish them great good luck in getting it made.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 9:24am

Awesome. I hope that's the one that HBO is doing.

[Steve C.]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 9:40am

I'm really glad this is finally maybe going to happen. AI could literally be done in a variety of styles that I hope they don't eff it up. I hope with BJA involved that it will stay as raw and potent (and as fun) as the stage production. Also, it would be great to see John Gallagher Jr. in it again (especially since he has a history with HBO).

It is still one of the highest energy shows I have ever seen. 

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 4:50pm

I love the show and saw the tour three times.  I really hope the film will not be quite as literal as described by Someone in a Tree 2 and will still have some of the creative feel of the stage production.  Personally, I thought it was an artistic triumph and deserved Tonys for Best Musical and Choreography.

[pushdabutton]

Posted: 10/7/16 at 8:47pm

Saw it on Broadway and loved it. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 10/8/16 at 12:45am

Hopefully Armstrong will make sure it gets done as written. It represents 2 of the 5 most important albums of the century to date and 1 of the 2 most important scores of an even longer period. It has the potential to be a movie musical of equal stature. But those of you who think it is a music video just keep on thinking so, and those of you who think this is aspirational might want to see the (already executed) deal papers before making guesses. 

Who has my ticket to the gigs this weekend?

 

[blueshadows]

Posted: 10/8/16 at 9:29am

Someone in a Tree2 said: "I was lucky enough to read the film script written by Michael Mayer about 6 months ago. It's an incredibly ambitious 2 1/2 hour balls-out drama containing all the songs from the Broadway score, set amidst a fully fleshed out story happening in Central California, NYC, Iraq, up and down the Eastern Seaboard and back in Central California again. Very little of it feels like a music video or "performance piece". They've found a way to seriously ground every song in real environments with huge batches of exposition crammed into the staging of each number. I think the script was about 150 pages long, which is massive for a film script.

I thought it was brilliant but punishing, and I wish them great good luck in getting it made.

 

"

Love the Green Day album, I personnally think it is a masterpiece. I usually don't like to see musicals that use non original songs but went to see anyway (on tour) because I loved this album, it was enjoyable to hear a different interpretation of those songs but I thought the plot was rather thin.

So I really had my reservation about the movie but after reading what you wrote about the script, I am really excited for it and can see how it can potentially be something really great and special.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 10/8/16 at 9:45pm

Yeah, I myself saw the Broadway production without really knowing the GreenDay catalogue before. Loved whole sections of the stage show, although the energy really flagged for me once they went deep into the Saint Jimmy/ drug addiction story that clogs up most of the middle of the story. Onscreen I thought they really solved that with a very complicated subplot of Johnny following Saint Jimmy's band on gigs in sadder and sadder clubs all over New Jersey and Connecticut. And the film fills in all the details of Tunny's stint in the  military (although sadly it deletes the fabulous flying sequence that meant so much onstage.) Coolest of all, the film skillfully inserts each Green Day performer into a scene or two onscreen that winks at their presence in the story.

Can't wait to hear proof that they're really moving forward.

[blueshadows]

Posted: 10/8/16 at 11:43pm

So the 3 guys of Green Day actually appear in it in a interesting way?..good to hear!

Updated On: 10/9/16 at 11:43 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/9/16 at 12:34am

So with the Hedwigesque new St Jimmy plot, is Jimmy still a rogue aspect of Johnny, or genuinely a different person? Shades of Hedwig/Tommy either way.