Michael Mayer confirms that Billie will play the role of St Jimmy in American Idiot movie

[Hermione]

Still different tho

Multiple takes plus the film will have dialogue not just singing

Yeah I know it'll still be different. But nowhere near as different as a non musical film would be, if it's a musical film the acting and dialogue will probably still be quite exaggerated and "Broadway" style and a character like St Jimmy wouldn't necessarily have to have much dialogue anyway.

[WhiteTim]

Yeah I know it'll still be different. But nowhere near as different as a non musical film would be, if it's a musical film the acting and dialogue will probably still be quite exaggerated and "Broadway" style and a character like St Jimmy wouldn't necessarily have to have much dialogue anyway.

We'll see

I'd like a movie to be made since I wasn't able to see the musical

[clipperqueen2020]

I thought people liked the JOS video. WMUWSE was the bad one IMO. I LOVED the rough and dirty feel and tone of the JOS video. It's exactly how I would want to see an American Idiot movie. Not based off the musical

[Sanity Loan]

I guess we'll get a taste of Billie's movie acting when 'Like Sunday, Like Rain' releases. His appearance in 'This is 40' wasn't too bad but wasn't great either. The Tom Selleck part (the one that made the movie) was alright. The Norwegian Death Metal part he did well though.

[Anaïs.]

Yeah I know it'll still be different. But nowhere near as different as a non musical film would be, if it's a musical film the acting and dialogue will probably still be quite exaggerated and "Broadway" style and a character like St Jimmy wouldn't necessarily have to have much dialogue anyway.

Frighteningly enough, I find myself agreeing with Tim. Stage acting is extremely exaggerated because you have to communicate to everyone, even the people in the back of the theatre, what your character is feeling; whereas on the big screen you have to go for realism and subtlety. Stephen Sondheim himself has said that it's extremely hard to do a musical properly on the big screen because "Why say with an entire song what you can communicate with a look?" If you compare the film version of practically any musical—Fiddler on the Roof, Les Mis, Sweeney Todd, etc.—to its stage version, the stage version will always be over the top in comparison because in order for the film to be successful, it has to dial the emotion back. That's also why a lot of film adaptations of musicals don't recruit the actors who originated the roles on Broadway.

[Steven Seagull]

I heard rumors that Zac Efron might play the leading role.

[Hermione]

Frighteningly enough, I find myself agreeing with Tim. Stage acting is extremely exaggerated because you have to communicate to everyone, even the people in the back of the theatre, what your character is feeling; whereas on the big screen you have to go for realism and subtlety. Stephen Sondheim himself has said that it's extremely hard to do a musical properly on the big screen because "Why say with an entire song what you can communicate with a look?" If you compare the film version of practically any musical—Fiddler on the Roof, Les Mis, Sweeney Todd, etc.—to its stage version, the stage version will always be over the top in comparison because in order for the film to be successful, it has to dial the emotion back. That's also why a lot of film adaptations of musicals don't recruit the actors who originated the roles on Broadway.

Still easier to transition to a musical film than a non musical film though . That's all I'm saying really. If there's any film role he could play well this must be the best chance of it surely? Especially as St Jimmy doesn't actually have that much stage time, in a musical film he might not be on screen that much and might have minimal non-singing stuff to do, being kind of a demon who pops up from time to time rather than a main character. And because he's that kind of character he's going to be more over the top and one sided than most of the others wherever and however he's portrayed, so being more complex and subtle like say Johnny is going to be less of an issue.

Not saying it's guaranteed to be amazing, just saying there's a good chance he could pull this role off compared to the average role. And whether he's any good or not it'll be hugely entertaining anyway

[DannyDirnt]

I don't know how I feel about this because St. Jimmy should be a teenager.

[American Basket Case]

Acting on Broadway and acting in films are two different things

And a successful musical on stage doesn't necessarily mean it will be a successful musical film. But a film version of AI would have a built-in audience of GD fans. So could be a win-win...

I just want to see it good or bad because the musical never made it here.

Agreed. Although the musical did make it here - 2 nights only, some of the coldest temps of the year, & middle of flu season - so I couldn't go. What I saw in the Broadway Idiot DVD only whetted my appetite so I would love to see AI as a film.

That's also why a lot of film adaptations of musicals don't recruit the actors who originated the roles on Broadway.

Hmm, makes me think of Rent, which was successful on stage, yet I don't think the film version did that well - despite having most of the OBC.

Billie Joe with Michael Mayer:

[gerardsangel4977]

Making a 90-minute musical even shorter for the movie? Um, OK.

LOL I was wondering about that too! Unless he was referring to a prior draft of the script, rather than the stage version?

Frighteningly enough, I find myself agreeing with Tim. Stage acting is extremely exaggerated because you have to communicate to everyone, even the people in the back of the theatre, what your character is feeling; whereas on the big screen you have to go for realism and subtlety. Stephen Sondheim himself has said that it's extremely hard to do a musical properly on the big screen because "Why say with an entire song what you can communicate with a look?" If you compare the film version of practically any musical—Fiddler on the Roof, Les Mis, Sweeney Todd, etc.—to its stage version, the stage version will always be over the top in comparison because in order for the film to be successful, it has to dial the emotion back. That's also why a lot of film adaptations of musicals don't recruit the actors who originated the roles on Broadway.

And yet I would take the staged versions of those musicals over their film counterparts any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I'd even argue that certain aspects of the Les Mis film are actually more over-the-top than the stage version ("Master of the House" comes to mind, for instance). You're also forgetting the *other* reason that film adaptations often don't use theater actors: Stunt casting and name recognition. Hollywood actors are generally more well-known than theater actors, and the ones that get chosen are arguably not always the best pick for the job. One of the undeniably good things about Billie Joe being attached to this project is he bridges the troublesome gap between fanboy/girl pick and mainstream star power. Short of Billie Joe, himself, refusing to take the part, there was no way in hell the studio would have even thought about choosing anyone else, for those reasons alone.

On a related note, I don't know why people keep talking about Billie Joe playing a lead dramatic role in the film. St. Jimmy was not a lead role in the musical. The only part that was billed as a lead was Johnny; the rest of the cast were billed as support roles. And, even out of those, St. Jimmy didn't have as much to do as, say, Will or Tunny. He only had 4 songs (with a couple lines of a fifth), out of 21, and literally *one* spoken line of dialogue. Also, when Billie was there, the role of St. Jimmy, as a whole, was retooled to be much more comedic than Tony Vincent's original interpretation (which was much more sinister and creepy) and even a tad improvisational.....as well as somewhat more queer Now, obviously, we can't say how the movie will choose to handle things. They may well give him more to do (it's certainly likely they'll give him more dialogue, but maybe not a lot more, since Mr. Jones' interview seemed to indicate they were keeping that element sparse). And they may decide to write St. Jimmy closer to the darker, more sinister interpretation, which could prove slightly more difficult for Billie Joe to play. But if they're smart, they won't. If they let the character be a source of comic relief and slightly over-the-top, which they certainly can, then everything should be perfectly fine. And people will love it, just like they loved it in the theater. Sometimes I think people forget that Billie Joe is more than used to performing on camera for both televised events and the dozens of music videos that the band have put out over the years. So if that's all he has to do for the movie (or the bulk of it, anyway), while slipping into a character he's already familiar with and working with a director he's entirely comfortable with, I don't see the problem. The main thing I can see being a difficulty for him is reminding himself not to look at the camera lol. But they have multiple takes for that.Then again, I could be up for some 4th-wall breaking. Might be fun.

[She is Amanda]

I heard rumors that Zac Efron might play the leading role.

High School Musical 4: Life in the Real World

[The Disappearing Boy]

Billie's not that bad an actor. Sure, he ain't gonna be winning any oscars, but his performances seem fairly natural, which is what you want. I've sure seen worse actors.

[Sofouska]

I agree with the 'make it dark' notion. What I want to see in this movie is this whole era perfectly depicted. The anger about society, the desperation of being bombarded by television and not knowing which path to follow in life, the war, the drugs, the bad choices, the heartache. That's what I want to see, I'll be sad if it's a just light movie where people just fuck or do drugs and have weird haircuts.

[American Basket Case]

^ Exactly. Don't sugarcoat the issues to make it more palatable.

[gerardsangel4977]

I agree with the 'make it dark' notion. What I want to see in this movie is this whole era perfectly depicted. The anger about society, the desperation of being bombarded by television and not knowing which path to follow in life, the war, the drugs, the bad choices, the heartache. That's what I want to see, I'll be sad if it's a just light movie where people just fuck or do drugs and have weird haircuts.

I get what you're saying here, but at the same time.....most of what you're talking about isn't all that "dark". As part of the youth of this era that the album and play are meant to depict, I agree that it should be taken seriously, as substance abuse and mental illness, in particular, are serious issues. But at the same time, this isn't exactly Breaking Bad territory. I daresay the people in high school now seem far more jaded than when I was a teenager (though I believe the musical depicted the characters as twenty-somethings). And we all still found ways to goof off and have fun and laugh at things. These characters come from broken homes, and they do have very adult problems to deal with, but they're still very much supposed to represent the common man/woman. That's what makes the narrative, the characters, and the lyrics so widely relatable in the first place. If you've ever seen or read the Perks of Being a Wallflower, I'd say that would be the most appropriate tone for something like this. Maybe a tad more visceral, due to the heroin usage and the sex scenes, but otherwise in the general ballpark. With some singing and dancing thrown in, of course

[That Dude]

Wonder if he will also play Jesus of Suburbia as well, or it will be two different roles....probably two, like the musical.

[desertrose]

Casting Call: American Idiot

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/casting-call-american-idiot

[momoluvGD]

http://m.playbill.com/news/article/schedule-of-upcoming-movie-musical-adaptations-216487

Sorry if there's already a thread for this. I know this is kind of old news but this is a new post

[Maid Meringue]

Ew I can't believe they're still wanting to do this movie.


I hope it has a different plotline than the musical. If not, they may as well have just recorded the broadway production and released it on DVD.

[Z J]

Ew I can't believe they're still wanting to do this movie.

I hope it has a different plotline than the musical. If not, they may as well have just recorded the broadway production and released it on DVD.

It would have to be far more character driven than song drive to work for a movie. I think they will definitely adjust it. If they deepen the characters, keep it as dark and somber as possible, and give us some interesting vocalist/actors, then I see no reason why it wouldn't do well.

[Invention Convention]

is this movie still happening?

[Maid Meringue]

It would have to be far more character driven than song drive to work for a movie. I think they will definitely adjust it. If they deepen the characters, keep it as dark and somber as possible, and give us some interesting vocalist/actors, then I see no reason why it wouldn't do well.

as long as the cast doesn't look like the actors from the JOS video I'll keep my mouth shut. Nothing but a bunch of posers the lot of them looked.

[Z J]

as long as the cast doesn't look like the actors from the JOS video I'll keep my mouth shut. Nothing but a bunch of posers the lot of them looked.

Agreed 100%

Funny, because I actually posted earlier on (possibly in this thread) that in order for it to not come off as cheesy, the AI movie must be the antithesis of the JOS music video.

[localinsomniac]

as long as the cast doesn't look like the actors from the JOS video I'll keep my mouth shut. Nothing but a bunch of posers the lot of them looked.

Which is why they're called actors.

[Todd]

as long as the cast doesn't look like the actors from the JOS video I'll keep my mouth shut. Nothing but a bunch of posers the lot of them looked.

All those scary looking goths