In a recent interview with Cominsoon.net, John Carney revealed that, similar to his first hit film ‘Once’, he will be casting new, unknown actors in his next production ‘Sing Street’. The interview was orientated around Carney’s new film, ‘Begin Again’, which stars Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo, and hits Irish cinemas on Friday July 11th.
When asked if he would be casting unknown actors, Carney replied “yeah, that's exactly what we’re doing. We’re mixing it up but certainly the main people will be unknowns and it will star some great actors we’re looking at for other roles, but it will be a film full of new faces.”
‘Sing Street’ has been described as ‘a semi-autobiographical tale inspired by the filmmaker’s love of music’. Set in 1980s recession-ridden Dublin, it tells the story of a fourteen year old named Cosmo who finds life at home difficult. He decides to forms a band with school mates, whom he writes songs and shoots videos with. When family trouble strikes, he runs away to London with his fifteen year old girlfriend who aspires to be a model.
When asked if the new film would be similar to ‘Once’, Carney replied, “It's actually very different. It’s all about kids, so it’s very different in terms of it’s not a grown-up movie. It’s kind of like an adventure musical in a weird way, but it’s set in the ’80s in a school with a bunch of kids and then there are some teachers and parents.
The project will be produced through Cosmo Films by Martina Niland, and Carney through Distressed Films, along with Anthony Bregman of Likely Story, Kevin Frakes from PalmStar Media, Raj Brinder Singh from Merced Media Partners, as well as Paul Trijbits and Christian Grass from FilmWave. Bono and the Edge will be involved in producing the film’s original soundtrack.
The film has already closed a number of international deals, having first pre-sold to StudioCanal, Germany, at Berlinale. Rights have also been sold to the UK, to Australia and New Zealand, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus, Israel, South Korea, Indonesia, South Africa, Iceland and pan-Asian TV.