Are we finally going to be seeing a rock opera about the man known as St. Jimmy? After more than ten years, it looks like a movie based on Green Day’s albumAmerican Idiotis actually going to happen. The project has been in development for quite some time, but according to the band’s lead singerBillie Joe Armstrongthe project now has some real traction, as well as a home at HBO.
Word on the project has been pretty quiet for a while, but now we have some pretty solid and encouraging details. Assuming you are one of the people who want to see this movie happen, that is.Billie Joe Armstrongrecently did an interview with NME and revealed thatHBOhas given theAmerican Idiotmovie a green light. Here is what he had to say about it.
“That’s the plan right now, yeah. We’ve got a green light from HBO, and the script is currently going through a couple ofrewriteshere and there, so I’m not sure when exactly we’re going to start shooting, but it’s definitely all systems go at the moment.”
Billie Joe Armstrongbriefly played the character of St. Jimmy during theBroadwayrun of theAmerican Idiotmusical and word has it he will be playing the character in the movie. There has been talk of a movie based on the band’s 2004 album of the same name for quite some time now, withTom Hanks' production company developing the project back in 2011. That eventually fell through and now it looks like HBO has stepped up to the plate and is going to giveAmerican Idiota try.
Prior to the release ofAmerican Idiot, Green Day had lost some relevance in themainstream, but the album was a massive hit and relaunched their career. The album has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.American Idiotis a rock opera that tells the story of an adolescent anti-hero who is disillusioned with the society he is growing up in, which was shaped by events like the Iraq War. The album was eventually turned into a very well received Broadway musical, which is what ultimately led to initial discussions for a movie adaptation.
HBO has yet to comment on the matter andBillie Joe Armstrongdidn’t give any word on an anticipated timeline for the American Idiot movie. Some may find it a little self-indulgent forBillie Joe Armstrongto star in the movie, but he does have some acting experience. He recently starred in the movieOrdinary World, which is set to be released on October 14. PlaywrightRolin Joneswas at one point writing the screenplay forAmerican Idiot, but it is unclear if he is the one doing the rewrites thatBillie Joe Armstrongmentioned in the interview. Green Day just dropped their new albumRevolution Radio, so perhaps the timing will help give the project some traction.
