John Carney had it rather easy when it came to coming up with a soundtrack for his Academy Award-winning semi-musical Once. After all, stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová had been performing for years under the Swell Season moniker and had no problem providing songs for their characters as well. Carney is back at the helm for another music-based film and this time he's going to more high-profile musicians. The director reported that Bono and The Edge of U2 would contribute to his next film, Sing Street.
The film will tell the story of a teenager from Dublin who starts a band after switching schools. Details remain ambiguous outside of that, but it seems the protagonist will need some original rock songs. And who better to write rock songs for an Irish teenager than two hugely successful performers that started a band as teenagers in Dublin?
"They already have been extremely helpful in discussing the musical aspect of the film and what the sound is going to be like," Carney said. "It's going to be set in the Eighties; obviously U2 were extremely prolific then, so they'll bring that, and they've just been great sounding boards. Bono has been very helpful with character and story as I've sort of pitched the project to him over the last few months."
Carney clarified that neither musician attempted to draw from real-life experience, so no, this isn't the U2 biopic. Nor will either member appear in the film. After all, they'll be busy promoting the band's first album in five years, which is scheduled to come out later during 2014.
