U2 Is Getting A Biographical Scripted Series From Netflix And Bad Robot
U2 fans got news of the sweetest thing today.
The Hollywood Reporter announced that U2 will soon be the subject of a scripted Netflix biographical series that will be produced by J.J. Abrams' production company Bad Robot and written by Anthony McCarten, the scribe behind "Bohemian Rhapsody." Currently, plot details are under wraps other than it being about U2, and the depth of the band's involvement has not yet been revealed.
U2, founded in Dublin in 1976, is one of the most successful rock bands of all time. The band consists of frontman Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullin, Jr. Since 1978, they have retained the same lineup. Over the decades, U2 has explored various musical genres and sounds, stemming from an embrace of electronic effects and a varied interest in changing musical trends. They have won 22 Grammys, were nominated for two Oscars, and several of their 14 studio albums have gone multiple-platinum.
Among U2's hit records are "Boy" (1980), "War" (1983), "The Joshua Tree" (1987), "Achtung Baby" (1991), "Pop" (1997), "No Line on the Horizon" (2009), and the two-punch of "Songs of Innocence" (2014) and "Songs of Experience" (2017). All those records and more have made them the first band in history to have #1 albums in four separate decades. In Ireland, they have 19 #1 singles, the most of any artist ever. U2 was even behind the music to the troubled Broadway show "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark." Their tours are legendary, and their shows are big. But it's not always a beautiful day for U2: As Negativland once pointed out, Casey Kasem hates their name.
Previous depictions of U2 in film
The Netflix series will not be the first fictionalized depiction of U2 on the screen. In 2011, Nick Hamm directed the film "Killing Bono," which starred Ben Barnes as Neil McCormick and Robert Sheehan as his brother Ivan as two real-life rockers who went to school with Bono (Martin McCann) and were forced to develop a career while constantly in U2's shadow.
Bono also played a character named Dr. Robert in Julie Taymor's "Across the Universe," and he recently lent his voice to Clay Calloway, a mysterious rocker lion in "Sing 2."
Screenwriter McCarten, in addition to writing "Bohemian Rhapsodym" has also written biopics about Stephen Hawking ("The Theory of Everything"), Winston Churchill ("The Darkest Hour"), and two popes ("The Two Popes"). He is also working on a scripted biography of Whitney Houston called "I Wanna Dance with Somebody."
The premiere of the untitled U2 biographical series is still faraway (so close), so stay tuned.