John Carney blew into last year’s Toronto International Film Festival with a fading reputation as "the guy who directed Once a while back" and an unseen musical project tucked under his arm. Once he screened the film – titled Can a Song Save Your Life? -- he became the toast of the town (for a short amount of time), triggered a fierce bidding war, and returned himself to a pedestal reserved for fascinating filmmakers. What does he have on the docket next?
Carney, a proud Irishman, is teaming up with U2 members Bono and The Edge for Sing Street, THR reports. It’s being reported that the story will be semi-autobiographical, though they mean for Carney, not necessarily for Paul Hewson and David Evans… the men who would go on to become global icons as Bono and The Edge.
Carney, if you didn’t know, started on the rock circuit by playing bass in an Irish band named The Frames. Sing Street will tell a similar story of an up-and-coming teenage songwriter in Dublin who shoots videos (which Carney did) and tries to breaks out of his doldrums in the 1980s. He meets and falls in love with a 15-year-old beauty, and they escape to London, all to the backdrop of what’s sure to be an empowering soundtrack.
Carney’s an ace at penning the right musical notes to accompany the emotions in his film scenes. I mean, the song Falling Slowly was so damn effective, it won the Academy Award for Best Song, and triggered the creation of a Tony-winning Broadway musical based on Carney’s smash romance, Once. Prepare for goosebumps.
Getting these sons of Dublin together for a musical project with roots in the Emerald island sounds like a complete win if you have any interest in music and film. Carney has had a long relationship with the members of U2 for years. Heck, here’s Bono busking with Once star Glen Hansard, Sinead O’Connor and Lisa Hannigan. As you do:
And while we likely have a while to wait for Sing Street, you can look forward to Can a Song…, which was picked up by The Weinstein Company and will look for a proper window for distribution this year. It’s terrific.
