ARC And XLrator Acquire Rock 'N Roll Comedy 'Killing Bono'

EXCLUSIVE: ARC Entertainment and XLrator Media have teamed to acquire North American distribution rights to the rock and roll comedy Killing Bono, which premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival. They plan a VOD release in October and a theatrical release a month later.

The film’s directed by Nick Hamm, stars Ben Barnes, Krysten Ritter and Martin McCann and features the last performance by the late actor Pete Postlethwaite. Written by The Commitments scribes Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais and Simon Maxwell, the film tells the story of young Irish rock musician Neil McCormick and his brother Ivan. They try to become rock stars in Dublin but are upstaged by four of their friends when they form the band U2 and become the biggest rock stars in the world. Pic’s an adaptation of Neil McCormick’s memoir Killing Bono: I Am Bono’s Doppelganger. ARC Entertainment CEO Trevor Drinkwater and XLrator Media head Barry Gordon have now teamed on their fifth film acquisition. They also acquired Ironclad, John Carpenter’s The Ward, the martial arts film Bunraku and Knuckle, the documentary about rival bare knuckle boxers in Ireland that premiered at Sundance. WME Global’s Alexis Garcia and Samantha Horley from SALT Company International brokered the deal. The pic’s produced by Hamm, Ian Flooks, Mark Huffam, Piers Tempest and is co-produced by Isibeal Ballance.

“One of the freshest and funniest rock & roll movies in a long time, Killing Bono is going to thrill not only the millions of U2 fans and music lovers, but everybody who has ever felt like an underdog,” XLrator Media’s Gordon said. Here’s a trailer: