U2 Archives - The Playlist

Netflix & J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Team For U2 Scripted Series

Christopher Marc — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 18:42:03 +0000

J.J. Abrams made waves when he signed a big lucrative development deal worth $500 million at WarnerMedia that would see future Bad Robot projects get developed at various divisions of the entertainment company. A new scripted series is now in development at Warner Bros. Television and sees Bad Robot moving more into the realm of biopics instead of the usual genre stuff they’re known for.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bad Robot is developing a series that will focus on the Irish rock band, U2, which will be heading to Netflix.

Continue reading Netflix & J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Team For U2 Scripted Series at The Playlist.

Watch: Woody Harrelson Is Released From Prison In 9-Minute Video For U2’s ‘Song For Someone’

The Playlist Staff — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 17:05:00 +0000

Watch: Woody Harrelson Is Released From Prison In 9-Minute Video For U2's 'Song For Someone'

Continue reading Watch: Woody Harrelson Is Released From Prison In 9-Minute Video For U2’s ‘Song For Someone’ at The Playlist.

Watch: Mark Romanek-Directed Video For U2’s “Invisible”

The Playlist Staff — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 20:23:00 +0000

Watch: Mark Romanek-Directed Video For U2's "Invisible"

Continue reading Watch: Mark Romanek-Directed Video For U2’s “Invisible” at The Playlist.

Watch: New Trailer For ‘Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom’ Is Brought To You By A New U2 Song

The Playlist Staff — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 23:33:25 +0000

Watch: New Trailer For 'Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom' Is Brought To You By A New U2 Song

Continue reading Watch: New Trailer For ‘Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom’ Is Brought To You By A New U2 Song at The Playlist.

Watch: Charming ‘Arthur Christmas’ Trailer Courts Hipsters With Use Of Vampire Weekend

The Playlist Staff — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:20:15 +0000

Watch: Charming 'Arthur Christmas' Trailer Courts Hipsters With Use Of Vampire Weekend

Continue reading Watch: Charming ‘Arthur Christmas’ Trailer Courts Hipsters With Use Of Vampire Weekend at The Playlist.

TIFF ’11 Review: ‘From The Sky Down’ A Disappointingly Incomplete Look At U2’s “Achtung Baby”

The Playlist Staff — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:55:36 +0000

TIFF '11 Review: 'From The Sky Down' A Disappointingly Incomplete Look At U2's "Achtung Baby"

Continue reading TIFF ’11 Review: ‘From The Sky Down’ A Disappointingly Incomplete Look At U2’s “Achtung Baby” at The Playlist.

U2’s Larry Mullen Jr. Acting, Producing & Composing Remake Of Patrice Leconte’s ‘Man On The Train’

The Playlist Staff — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:56:26 +0000

U2's Larry Mullen Jr. Acting, Producing & Composing Remake Of Patrice Leconte's 'Man On The Train'

Continue reading U2’s Larry Mullen Jr. Acting, Producing & Composing Remake Of Patrice Leconte’s ‘Man On The Train’ at The Playlist.

‘Killing Bono’ Soundtrack To Feature Song By Pre-U2 Group The Hype

The Playlist Staff — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 09:52:19 +0000

'Killing Bono' Soundtrack To Feature Song By Pre-U2 Group The Hype

Continue reading ‘Killing Bono’ Soundtrack To Feature Song By Pre-U2 Group The Hype at The Playlist.

Paramount International Are ‘Killing Bono’ (In A Movie)

Oliver Lyttelton — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:41:00 +0000

Aside from a cameo in Wim Wenders’ “Million Dollar Hotel” and a strange appearance looking almost identical to Robin Williams in “Across the Universe,” U2 frontman Bono has thankfully refrained from any major acting ambitions. But with the upcoming comedy “Killing Bono,” he’s set to be the center of a movie for the first time.

Based on British music journalist Neil McCormick’s memoir “I Was Bono’s Doppleganger,” “Killing Bono” follows Neil and Ivan McCormick (Ben Barnes, from “Prince Caspian,” and Robert Sheehan), two brothers who form a band together, but are consistently overshadowed by their classmates, who go on to form U2.

Continue reading Paramount International Are ‘Killing Bono’ (In A Movie) at The Playlist.

Sandy B. Makes History As ‘The Blind Side’ Takes in $200 Mill; First Look at ‘Holy Rollers’

Katie Walsh — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:19:00 +0000

Step aside, Julia, Reese, and Meryl — Sandra Bullock is officially unstoppable. At some point over the weekend, her Jesus, race and football film, “The Blind Side” became the first female star driven film to take in $200 million at the box office, as reported by Variety. With the wild, word-of-mouth success of this film and last summer’s “The Proposal” she’s the Box Office Queen of Hollywood. ‘The Blind Side’ has garnered her noms from SAG, the Golden Globes and the Broadcast Film Critics, and people are starting to talk Oscar, maybe even for Best Picture too.

Continue reading Sandy B. Makes History As ‘The Blind Side’ Takes in $200 Mill; First Look at ‘Holy Rollers’ at The Playlist.

U2 Biopic ‘Killing Bono’ Starts Filming Next Week

Kevin Jagernauth — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:00:00 +0000

Remember when U2 wasn’t selling iPods, Blackberrys, pretending to save the planet and hiding their earnings in offshore accounts? Those early, much more glorious days will be the subject of a new film, “Killing Bono” based on the memoir by Neil McCormick. In the book, McCormick tells the story of U2’s rise to stardom from the sidelines. He was a schoolmate and friend of Bono, who struggled to nearly a decade to match the success of U2 and failed miserably.

Continue reading U2 Biopic ‘Killing Bono’ Starts Filming Next Week at The Playlist.

The Spike Jonze/U2 Music Video With Jim Carrey That Might Have Been…

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:17:00 +0000

This one pretty much speaks for itself and yes, while we love Spike Jonze, we’re kind of glad this one didn’t happen.

Bono: I kind of always knew, actually. Yeah. [Spike] pitched an idea… [laughs] I’ll tell you this just as I go. He didn’t know I was calling him, I called him in his car because I had heard he was on his way to Warner Bros. I called him up as Bugs Bunny.

Continue reading The Spike Jonze/U2 Music Video With Jim Carrey That Might Have Been… at The Playlist.

U2 Sings ‘Winter’ For Oscar

Kevin Jagernauth — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:38:00 +0000

A couple of days ago, we reported that Leona Lewis was lined up to sing “I See You (Theme From Avatar)” for um, “Avatar,” and some people were sort of (hilariously) offended that we would dare to suggest that song might be anything but good.

Well, we’re ready to take on another round of bloggers (and U2 fans) furrowing their brows at us, because we’ve actually heard U2’s “Winter,” written for the forthcoming Jim Sheridan film “Brothers” and it sucks.

Continue reading U2 Sings ‘Winter’ For Oscar at The Playlist.

U2 Talk ‘Spider-Man’ Musical/Opera, Peter Parker Found And Is More Of A ‘Kurt Cobain Slacker’?

Simon Dang — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:39:00 +0000

U2’s Bono and The Edge recently took to discussing Julie Taymor’s upcoming “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark” musical — which looks like it’s going forward gung-ho despite rumors of financial problems — which the two have written music for.

“It touches on opera, it touches on rock ‘n’ roll. There are some real character driven songs as well, very unusual song types for us,” The Edge explained to the BBC. “It is a new challenge.

Continue reading U2 Talk ‘Spider-Man’ Musical/Opera, Peter Parker Found And Is More Of A ‘Kurt Cobain Slacker’? at The Playlist.

Jack White’s ‘It Might Get Loud’ Single Hits; Jimmy Page Says DVD Will Contain More Music

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:37:00 +0000

Last week we reported that David Guggenheim — director of the upcoming rock doc, “It Might Get Loud” — had coerced Jack White into writing a new song (“Fly Farm Blues”) for the film and then releasing it as a single, presumably so he could get some extra promotional mileage from music blogs obsessed with every fart White blows any which way (or something like that). Not a bad idea. The doc, as you’ve probably heard by now, also features U2’s The Edge and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.

Continue reading Jack White’s ‘It Might Get Loud’ Single Hits; Jimmy Page Says DVD Will Contain More Music at The Playlist.

Julie Taymor’s ‘Spiderman’ Musical Looks To Be On The Brink Of Fail

Simon Dang — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:01:00 +0000

Julie Taymor’s much anticipated musical “Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark,” which was set to being previews on February 25 next year, is now reportedly on the brink of being canned.

The production was set to star Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming with music by U2’s Bono and The Edge but after rumors of financial difficulties last week, the Broadway musical is now apparently releasing actors from their contracts with no reimbursement and facing an influx of refunds inquiries from ticketing agencies after having failed to recruit experienced producers to save the already flailing production.

Continue reading Julie Taymor’s ‘Spiderman’ Musical Looks To Be On The Brink Of Fail at The Playlist.

Contest: Win A Free ‘It Might Get Loud’ Poster

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:01:00 +0000

Remember the upcoming rock doc, “It Might Get Loud”?

The picture centers on three “rock guitar gods,” Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s The Edge, and The White Stripes’ Jack White, and is directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim who helmed, “An Inconvenient Truth.”

The film hits theaters on August 14 in limited release via Sony Pictures Classics and we have an autographed poster (the one you see here) signed by Guggenheim to give away.

Continue reading Contest: Win A Free ‘It Might Get Loud’ Poster at The Playlist.

Evan Rachel Wood Tries To Tame Bono’s Pretentiousness On ‘Spider-Man’ Musical

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:16:00 +0000

We missed this the first time. Evan Rachel Wood trying to mollify Bono’s humorlessness when writing music for Julie Taymor’s “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark,” Broadway musical. Funny…

“Bono and the Edge are doing the music. It was hysterical, I got to do the workshop, sit down with them playing guitars going over the music, and I was making jokes going, watch by the end of this, I’ll be telling them what to do.

Continue reading Evan Rachel Wood Tries To Tame Bono’s Pretentiousness On ‘Spider-Man’ Musical at The Playlist.

Alan Cumming To Play Green Goblin In ‘Spider-Man’ Musical

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:15:00 +0000

Remember the Julie Taymor-directed “Spider-Man” musical that will hit Broadway sometime in 2010 (unless there’s more delays) and will star Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane?

Well, actor Alan Cumming has joined the cast as the Green Goblin, the role played in the Sam Raimi film by Willem Dafoe. U2’s Bono and The Edge are still doing the music. We’re hoping this is a glorious fiasco to remember for the ages.

This musical is now officially titled, “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark.” Preview performances begin February 25, 2010 and the opening date will be announced after.

Continue reading Alan Cumming To Play Green Goblin In ‘Spider-Man’ Musical at The Playlist.

U2 Says ‘Spiderman’ Like Every Rock N’ Roll Star’s Story When Discussing Upcoming Broadway Musical

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:06:00 +0000

Man, Bono from U2 comes across so bloody pretentious in this U2Place.com clip about Julie Taymor’s upcoming “Spiderman Turn Off The Dark” musical.

“We were open to the idea of musical theater,” Bono says in measured, trying to import gravitas tenor. “But ‘Spiderman,’ [pause for affect] that’s a different thing again, because that’s comic books, which has a whole series of relationships between punk rock and comic books, that goes back years. but to mess with all these different aspects of pop culture and put ’em in a blender and see what comes out…”

“Every rock n’ roll star probably started out as the geek who was bullied in school and eventually there form of revenge was to right songs…” says The Edge, trying desperately to make some sort of correlation or parallel between rockers and Peter Parker yet without bringing up any Spider-Man example (his revenge was accidentally being bit by a radio active spider and then turning into crime fighter?

Continue reading U2 Says ‘Spiderman’ Like Every Rock N’ Roll Star’s Story When Discussing Upcoming Broadway Musical at The Playlist.

Trailer: Rock Documentary ‘It Might Get Loud,’ Film Hits August 14 In Limited Release

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:22:00 +0000

The New York Times seem to be the one that debuted the trailer for guitar-rock documentary, “It Might Get Loud” last week, but /Film reminds us that various outlets like Trailer addict have stolen it and released it on their site.

Centering on three “rock guitar gods,” Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s The Edge, and The White Stripes’ Jack White, the film is directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim who helmed, “An Inconvenient Truth.” But none of the rockers on the poster?

Continue reading Trailer: Rock Documentary ‘It Might Get Loud,’ Film Hits August 14 In Limited Release at The Playlist.

Evan Rachel Wood Steps Into Mary Jane for Spidey on Broadway

astrudsands — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:02:00 +0000

There are so many potentially disastrous elements to this story that we hardly know where to begin. Evan Rachel Wood, noted indie actress and former Marilyn Manson paramour, has reported herself that she has signed on to star in director Julie Taymor’s Broadway adaptation of “Spider-Man.” In fact, the show will apparently actually be called Spider-Man: The Musical (insert reflexive eye-roll here). You’ll recall that Wood and Taymor worked together on “Across the Universe” – the Beatles musical movie that got mixed reviews in 2007.

Continue reading Evan Rachel Wood Steps Into Mary Jane for Spidey on Broadway at The Playlist.

Rock Doc ‘It Might Get Loud’ Coming To Theaters Summer 2009

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:34:00 +0000

“It Might Get Loud” is a documentary centering on three “rock guitar gods,” Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s The Edge, and The White Stripes’ Jack White.

Sony Pictures Classics has grabbed North American film distribution rights with a plan to roll it out in theaters Summer 2009 according to the Hollywood Reporter. We saw the film when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The doc, which traced each guitarist in the here-and-now about their techniques and relationship to the guitar, wasn’t mandatory viewing or anything, but if you’re a big fan of any of these three, it’s probably worth watching as it was fun to watch (the culminating scenes where they jam together are interesting too).

Continue reading Rock Doc ‘It Might Get Loud’ Coming To Theaters Summer 2009 at The Playlist.

TIFF Review: Jimmy Page, Jack White And The Edge Rock Out In ‘It Might Get Loud’

Rodrigo Perez — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 19:38:00 +0000

Since we decided to make a blog about “where movies and music meet” (an albatross we’ll never get off our necks ;), we’re pretty obligated to see, “It Might Get Loud,” a rock guitar god documentary that centers of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, U2’s The Edge, and The White Stripes’ Jack White, no? Well, yeah.

Well-shot, well constructed and giving equal time to each guitar god (though calling White might be a stretch by our POV), ‘Loud,’ was a engaging, informative, if not completely necessary documentary about three guitarists seemingly chosen at random.

Continue reading TIFF Review: Jimmy Page, Jack White And The Edge Rock Out In ‘It Might Get Loud’ at The Playlist.

Rock Doc, ‘It Might Get Loud’ Featuring Jimmy Page, The Edge & Jack White To Premiere At TIFF ’08

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:40:00 +0000

Remember the rock-guitar doc, “It Might Get Loud,” which will feature guitar gods, Jimmy Page of Led Zep, Jack White of the White Stripes and U2’s The Edge?

The doc was screening out of competition at Cannes in attempts at finding a buyer and evidently it found one. The doc will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The film is directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim who helmed, “An Inconvenient Truth.” [Variety]

Continue reading Rock Doc, ‘It Might Get Loud’ Featuring Jimmy Page, The Edge & Jack White To Premiere At TIFF ’08 at The Playlist.