A new comedy inspired by the early days of Green Day is now in development. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trio is now one of the most beloved punk-rock bands of all time. They were founded in 1987 by lead vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong and bᴀssist Mike Dirnt with the trio created when Tré Cool joined in 1990. The group has won four Grammys, first winning in 1994 for Best Alternative Music Performance for their album Dookie.
Per Variety, a comedy inspired by Green Day is now officially in the works. The movie, тιтled New Year’s Rev, will be a coming-of-age story about three friends and bandmates, who travel to Los Angeles because they think their (fictional) band is opening for Green Day on New Year’s Eve. The friends will be played by Mason Thames, Kylr Coffman, and Ryan Foust. Other cast members include The Office alums Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, alongside Keen Ruffalo and Ignancia Diaz-Silverado. All three members of Green Day, along with Tim Perell, will produce it. The film’s logline can be found below:
Their roadtrip is a rowdy and mischievous jaunt across the country filled with adventures, based on the exploits of Green Day and their years of living in a tour van.
With the announcement, Green Day frontman Armstrong also commented on the film and its subject matter:
Van days rule. You will drive all night on no sleep then play a show for 10 kids in a basement of a friend of a friend’s house 50 miles east of anywhere you’ve ever heard of. But you’ll do it again the next day, and the one after that. Because you’re doing it with your bandmates who become your family and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever known. It’s electric. Let the music and mischief ensue.
Live Nation Productions is producing the project, and the company’s head of film and TV, Ryan Kroft, also commented on the project:
With incredible guidance from Green Day, ‘New Years Rev’ tells the story of young artists chasing a dream — long nights, endless miles, and the electrifying rush of the stage fueling their journey. Brought to life by an incredible cast, it’s a tribute to the magic of live music.
What This Means For The Green Day Movie
New Year’s Rev Will Honor Green Day’s Legacy
New Year’s Rev is notably not a music biopic about Green Day. Instead, it acts as a loose adaptation of the band’s real story and a meta-commentary on their legacy. The band at the core of New Year’s Rev is a fictional tribute to the kind of young artists that Green Day members once were, but it exists in a universe wherein Green Day is also around, and opening for them would be a coveted honor. As such, the film may also honor the legacy and mystique behind Green Day themselves as a band, as the young artists look up to them.
New Year’s Rev will not be the first movie involving a member of the Green Day team. Armstrong appeared in the 2016 film Ordinary World and played an aging punk rocker. The film was not biographical, but its plot still gave the sense that it was paying tribute to Armstrong and where he was at in his career. It will be interesting to see how New Year’s Rev honors Green Day at a much earlier point in their career, which consisted of hits like “American Idiot” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
Our Take On The Green Day Movie
An Original Green Day Song Seems Likely
All three members of Green Day are entrancing personalities, so their influence on the road-trip music comedy will be welcome. The announcement did not say much about the music in New Year’s Rev, other than that the film would be a tribute to the live music scene. I would not be surprised if the film threw in an original Green Day song or two, in an attempt to get Best Original Song attention during the awards season later on, or just to have something fresh for Green Day listeners.
Source: Variety
