There is a new scripted U2-based television show in the works from show-runner and director J.J. Abrams.
The forthcoming series, which is set for release on the popular streaming platform Netflix, is as-yet untitled. It’s set to be written by Anthony McCarten, who is one of Hollywood’s premiere biopic writers. He’s written projects like The Theory of Everything (2014), Darkest Hour (2017), The Two Popes (2019), and Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).
The show, which is still in the early stages of production, has no set story. U2’s involvement is being “kept under wraps,” reports Consequence.
U2, which formed in Dublin, Ireland in the mid-1970s has become one of the biggest bands in the history of popular music. Comprised of lead singer Bono, guitarist the Edge, bassist Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullen Jr., the band is responsible for hits like “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “One.”
The band, which is known for its stadium-filling sound, has also released some of the biggest albums, including The Joshua Tree and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
More recently, the group’s lead singer Bono came out with a statement curiously criticizing his own singing voice. Speaking on the Awards Chatter podcast, Bono said he’s “embarrassed” by his band’s older catalog and that he hates his band’s name. He added that he only “recently” learned to sing.
“I really don’t” like the name, Bono said. “But I was late into some kind of dyslexia. I didn’t realize that The Beatles was a bad pun either.”
Bono added, “In our head, it was like the spy plane, U-boat, it was futuristic—as it turned out to imply this kind of acquiescence, no I don’t like that name. I still don’t really like the name.” However, he added, “Paul McGuinness, our first manager, did say, ‘Look, it’s a great name, it’s going to look good on a T-shirt, a letter and a number.’”
Nor does he like or want to talk about the band’s older catalog—which has to be a surprise to fans and even the band’s harshest critics.
“I’ve been in the car when one of our songs has come on the radio and I’ve been the color of, as we say in Dublin, scarlet. I’m just so embarrassed,” Bono said. “The band sounds incredible,” but the issue comes down to his “Irish macho” voice, which to him always sounds “strained.”
“The one that I can listen to the most is [the song] ‘Miss Sarajevo’ with Luciano Pavarotti,” Bono said. “Genuine, most of the other ones make me cringe a little bit. Although ‘Vertigo’ probably is the one I’m proudest of. It’s the way it connects with the crowd.”
“The big discovery for me,” Bono went on, “was listening to The Ramones and hearing the beautiful kind of sound of Joey Ramone and realizing I didn’t have to be that rock and roll singer.”
He said, “I only became a singer like recently, maybe it hasn’t happened yet for some people’s ears and I understand that.”