Netflix is developing a scripted series based on the rock band U2, multiple outlets report.
Netflix is teaming up with J. J. Abrams and his Bad Robot Productions for the project, the Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Deadline reported. “Bohemian Rhapsody” writer Anthony McCarten is expected to write the script.
The reported series is in early development and most other details are still under wraps, including U2's involvement. Netflix and Bad Robot declined to comment to the three outlets.
Irish rock band U2 was formed in 1976 and has released 14 studio albums. It features Bono on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, the Edge as lead guitarist, Adam Clayton on bass and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. The band's most recent tour was in 2019. U2 ranked 22nd on Rolling Stone’s 2010 list of the greatest artists of all time with the likes of The Beatles and Elvis Presley. The band won its first Grammy in 1988, winning a record 22 out of 46 nominations.
McCarten has worked on several high-profile biopics along with "Bohemian Rhapsody". He is Oscar-nominated for his screenplays in "The Darkest Hour", "The Theory of Everything", and Netflix's "The Two Popes", starring Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce as Pope Francis.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" starred Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury and won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2019. It's part of a wave of blockbuster biopics on music icons, like "Rocketman" about Elton John and an upcoming "Elvis" film starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.