after the group’s 1983 hit single, and based on frontman Holly Johnson’s memoirThe project is heading to the Cannes market with Independent, which is handling sales, and we hear there is already strong interest in the package from potential buyers. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner will produce for Working Title and Luc Roeg is producing for Independent Entertainment.
However, they disbanded acrimoniously in 1987 — with reports of a fight before a gig at Wembley Stadium — and didn’t perform together again until Monday night when they played one song at a concert in Liverpool ahead of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest., which celebrates homosexual love, was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts. It subsequently went on to top the UK Singles Chart for five weeks and become the sixth best-selling UK single of all time. In the U.S.
Tim Bevan, Co-Chairperson of Working Title, said: “Working Title is always looking to champion British stories and so the opportunity to shine a light on Frankie Goes To Hollywood, a British band who truly revolutionised the UK music industry, was a natural fit for us. Working under the direction of Bernard Rose, the project will star exciting young talent, Callum Scott Howells in the lead, and Independent Entertainment as partner. We can’t wait to get started.
Luc Roeg of Independent Entertainment commented: “Frankie Goes To Hollywood were an unflinching ground-breaking band that paved the way for so many young performers today. Partnering with Working Title to bring their story to the screen is incredibly exciting. We can’t think of anyone better than Bernard Rose, and our talented young lead, Callum Scott Howells, to bring this iconic moment in pop history to life.
Rose added: “Combining the wit of the Beatles, the power of The Rolling Stones and the outrage of The Sex Pistols, Frankie Goes To Hollywood went from unemployed Liverpudlians to Kings of pop on the back of their epic banned record. In 1984 they outsold Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Duran Duran. Their epic rise, bringing the then deeply underground S+M and LGBTQ club scene screaming into the limelight, is the energetic and moving story of underdogs that win one for the ages.