Sundance Smash 'Sing Street' Set For Spring 2016

Once a movie takes Sundance by storm, the wait begins for its theatrical release. Sometimes there's hardly a wait at all; this year's documentary Jim: The James Foley Story premiered on HBO a mere two weeks after its Sundance bow. And sometimes that wait is so long it actually laps the following Sundance: The Witch, in theaters now, debuted over a year ago at Sundance 2015.

Fortunately for fans of '80s music, Irish accents, coming-of-age stories, and/or joy, The Weinstein Company isn't dragging its feet on Sing Street. The upbeat musical from John Carney (of Once and Begin Again) emerged as one of the biggest crowdpleasers of this year's festival, and now it's going to sing and dance its way into the hearts of general audiences this spring. 

Exhibitor Relations reports The Weinstein Company has set Sing Street for a limited release starting April 15, 2016. Wide releases opening that week include Barbershop: The Next Cut, The Jungle Book, and Kevin Costner's Criminal. In addition, Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room and Emma Watson and Daniel Brühl's Colonia are out in limited release that weekend. The news shouldn't come as a huge surprise considering The Weinstein Co. released the first Sing Street trailer several days before Sundance 2016 even kicked off. Still, it's nice to finally get a confirmed date on the calendar.

Set in 1980s Dublin, Sing Street follows a teenage boy named Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) who moves from a cushy private school to a rough public school. He struggles to fit in, but finds his groove when he forms a band. Mark McKenna and Ben Carolan play some of Conor's bandmates, Lucy Boynton is the mysterious, (slightly) older girl who catches Conor's eye, Jack Reynor plays Conor's cool older brother, and Maria Doyle Kennedy and Aidan Gillen are Conor's parents.

Carney's got a knack for translating the power of music to the big screen, and the "loosely autobiographical" Sing Street does a great job of capturing what exactly music can mean to a kid at a crossroads. It's a way for Conor to express himself, to make friends, to woo the girl he likes, to better understand the world as it really is and to imagine escaping into a better world. And not for nothing, Sing Street's got a kickass soundtrack, too, with fun, occasionally cheesy tunes befitting a high school band in the 1980s.

Sing Street was one of our absolute favorites at Sundance, and Ethan's review goes into even greater detail about why we fell hard for it. Or just get a tiny taste of it yourself via the trailer: