The virtual band Gorillaz was created by Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn back in 1998. The band has gone through many different genres since its inception. In a way, they never truly committed to any genre while even telling a story of its four fictional band members through music videos. There have been discussions about a potential cinematic adaptation for quite some time. Luckily, it seems that talks have started again as songwriter and co-creator Albarn is already in discussions with Netflix to bring the film to life. In an interview with Apple Music, he revealed the collaboration:
I’m at Netflix because we’re making a full-length Gorillaz film with Netflix. We’re having a writing session in Malibu this afternoon. It’s really exciting to do that. It’s something we’ve been wanting to do for a very long time. It’s been through so many incarnations…this Gorillaz doing a movie. Honestly.
Damon Albarn
The last sentence about the many incarnations once again highlights how long this project has been in development. There were hints that back in 2020 a new project was in development. It’s unclear if it’ll act as an origin story for the creation of the fictional band, or simply explore their current life. There’s a chance it might expand where the last album Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez‘s story left us off. Of course, it could tell a completely unique story with references to what has happened in the past.
There’s also the question of whether the series will act more like an extended music video. Gorillaz might create a new album for the film, similar to what Jack Black did with the Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny film. We’ll see how long the wait will be, but if they’re going down the animated route it’s likely something that’ll take a few years before it sees the light of day.
Source: Collider
