Green Day's Billie Joe Wants 'America...

Green Day's Billie Joe Wants 'American Idiot' Movie To Be Like 'Rocky Horror Picture Show.' MTV News Plays Casting Director

Category: Film/Movie
Posted 5 months ago by wdweditorial
Credit: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/07/27/green-days-bill
It’s been five years since Green Day’s multi-platinum, Grammy-winning album “American Idiot” came out, but work on the material is still very alive. A musical adaptation is set to debut at California’s Berkeley Repertory Theater in September and frontman Billie Joe Armstrong continues to push for developing the disc’s post-9/11 stories for the big screen. And he wants to do it in an unexpected way. "I thought 'American Idiot' had a lot in common with something like 'Rocky Horror Picture Show,'" Billie Joe told The Associated Press. "It would great to see a film made out of it someday too." Strange, perhaps. But “Idiot” has been subtly intertwined, at least in the minds of Green Day’s musical trio, for years. During the “Idiot” tour in 2004, concert-goers who arrived early to the venue were treated to the sounds of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" soundtrack and burlesque-looking girls took part in the shows staging. What’s more, “Jesus of Suburbia” contains a decidedly ‘70s glam section. A stretch? Maybe. But what Billie Joe says, goes. If Green Day pushes forward with a glammed-up rock opera/coming-of-age tale based on “American Idiot,” here’s how we’d like to see it shake out: Jesus of Suburbia: The main character of the story, Jesus (not his given name) is a disaffected suburban kid who likes to graffiti bathroom walls, make out with girls and drink beer. As Billie Joe has admitted, he and the character share a number of similarities. In the epic music video, Lou Taylor Pucci played Jesus with spikey black hair and neck tattoos, making him look like the frontman’s young self. But that video hit in 2004 and by the time casting gets underway, Pucci may be a bit too old to play a teenager. Hey, could be Pucci, could be Joseph Gordon Levitt. But I like an unknown for the role. Jesus’ Mom: She loves her cigarettes and her scratch-off lotto tickets, and she is sick of her son’s crap. She admits to being a loser, but tells Jesus that makes him the son of a loser, as well as a “f---ing moron.” Mother of the year, she ain’t. Actresses who can convey a gritty realism, like Holly Hunter, Amy Ryan, Carrie-Anne Moss, should get a look. St. Jimmy: This guy is a badass, the “comedy and tragedy” of the album, as Billie Joe sings. He likes his dope and rails against the Man. This character has scene-stealer written all over him. I like Jay Baruchel. He may not be a household name at the moment, but after appearing with Nic Cage in “The Sorcerer's Apprentice” next year, he might be. Baruchel can bring the funny and then hit you with the searing emotion when you weren’t even looking. "Wake Me Up When September Ends": The song was originally intended as a memorial to Billie Joe’s father, but the video followed a young couple in love. The lyrics touch on feelings of loss, nostalgia and the passage of time. If they stick with the teenage couple idea—perhaps they’re friends of Jesus?—the logical choice would be to stick with Evan Rachel Wood and Jamie Bell. If perhaps it becomes a tale of Jesus’ deceased father, the only choice to play the man would be Giovanni Ribisi: in looks and coiled frenetic energy, Ribisi and Billie Joe are twins. “Holiday”: This song is pure, cathartic fun. The video showcases the band ripping around town in a convertible. Here’s time to meet some of Jesus’ glam-friendly friends, played by Adam Lambert and Benji and Joel Madden. Are they a little old? Sure. But Armstrong has said he wants musicians in his movie, so we’ll give him musicians "Maybe we'll have, you know, Tim Armstrong come out as Whatsername [the central character of the final song] and we'll get the Madden brothers,” Billie Joe has told MTV News.
Related Links: Carrie-Anne Moss, Evan Wood, Giovanni Ribisi, Holly Hunter, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jay Baruchel, Amy Ryan, mtv.com
Green Day's Billie Joe Wants 'American Idiot' Movie To Be Like 'Rocky Horror Picture Show.' MTV News Plays Casting Director
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See Also: Carrie-Anne Moss News :: Evan Wood News :: Giovanni Ribisi News :: Holly Hunter News :: Joseph Gordon-Levitt News :: Jay Baruchel News :: Amy Ryan News ::
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