Green Day share update on “surreal” “American Idiot” movie

PanARMENIAN.Net - Green Day have given an update on the progress of the long-awaited movie of ‘American Idiot’ – revealing that it’s going to be ‘surreal’ and ‘offensive’, NME reports.

Last month, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong confirmed to NME that the long-awaited film had been given the ‘green light’ by US network HBO, and that he’d be reprising his role at St Jimmy from the Broadway and West End musical. The movie adaptation of their seminal 2004 politically-charged album has been long-rumoured since the records release, before reports emerged in 2011 of Tom Hanks wanting to produce it, before the film was finally confirmed in 2013 and playwright Rolin Jones revealed he was ‘finishing up’ the script back the following year.

Now, the band have given an update on how the project is taking shape.

“HBO is into it, and now we’re dealing with a re-write right now and it’s going good,” Billie Joe Armstrong told NME. “I think it’s going to be a lot different from the musical. It’s kind of, more surreal but I think there’s going to be parts of it that might offend people – which is good. I think it’s a good time to offend people.”

Armstrong continued: “I think there’s just going to be a lot of imagery that we couldn’t pull off in the musical in the stage version. You know, I don’t want to give away too much, but it will be shocking in a way which makes you think.”

Green Day also spoke to NME about the mood in America in the wake of Donald Trump winning the US Presidential election – saying it ‘feels like a death in the family’ and calling for something ‘drastic’ to remove him from office.

The band return to the UK to tour in early 2017, performing at Leeds First Direct Arena 5 February, Manchester Arena (6) and London O2 Arena (8) – and will headline British Summer Time Festival at Hyde Park in London on Saturday 1 July.