The career of English band Frankie Goes to Hollywood will be told in a film produced by Working Title and Independent Entertainment.
Relax will be based on singer Holly Johnson ‘s autobiography , A Bone in my Flute . Callum Scott Howells ( It’s a Sin ) will play Johnson.
Bernard Rose , director of the video clip for Relax and the horror classic Candyman , wrote the screenplay and will direct the film. Universal Music, which owns the Frankie Goes to Hollywood catalog, will support the project and supply the band’s songs. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner will produce for Working Title, Luc Roeg for Independent Entertainment. The project will be presented at the Cannes market.
Curiously, Frankie Goes to Hollywood have just reunited to play a song at the Eurovision Song Contest last Monday in their hometown of Liverpool. They hadn’t been on stage since 1987, the year of their acrimonious breakup after seven years in the business and several hugely successful songs, including Two Tribes and The Power of Love . And of course relaxation, the film’s title track which, due to its controversial theme, a celebration of same-sex love, was banned in the UK when it reached sixth in the charts. It later topped the singles chart and stayed there for five weeks, making it the sixth most successful domestic single of all time. The film will examine the genesis and impact of the song.
Bernard Rose said:
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 out-of-work Liverpoolans to kings of pop on the heels of their banned epic Relax. In 1984, they outsold Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Duran Duran. Their epic rise, which thrust the then deeply underground S&M and LGBTQ club scene into the spotlight, is the energetic and poignant story of a group of underdogs who achieve a momentous victory. I was part of that world, having directed the original “banned” Relax video , and I want to bring that innocent and bold 1984 world back to life for a new audience today.