Tré Cool on the American Idiot Movie and Green Day Biopic Talk: 'We Ain't Done Yet'
Green Day drummer Tré Cool addressed two long-running questions in a new interview with NME: whether a film version of the band's 2004 rock opera American Idiot is still moving forward, and whether the band would ever agree to a conventional biopic. The interview followed the release of Nimrods, a coming-of-age comedy inspired by Green Day's early touring years, which opened exclusively in UK cinemas on August 11.
What Tré Cool said about the American Idiot movie
Asked whether a big-screen adaptation of the 2004 concept album could be revived, Cool said that after the response to Nimrods, the idea is "probably just being talked about more now." He added that the band has proven it can make records "and apparently we can make movies too," before joking: "We'll do a musical, we could do Dookie... every morning!"
He also pushed back a little on the pace of the questions, comparing it to asking a band "are you going back into the studio?" two weeks after a new album drops. Still, he left the door open: "We're extremely proud of American Idiot," calling it an album that means an enormous amount to the band, and adding "we're not shying away from talking about it."
Why a traditional biopic isn't happening yet
On the subject of a straightforward biographical film, Cool confirmed the band gets pitched the idea periodically. "Every few eras someone says, we should do a movie of your lives," he said. His answer, for now, is "we ain't done yet" — he doesn't want to pause and look back at a career that's still being written, instead of putting that energy into new work.
15 years of on-again, off-again movie talk
The American Idiot film has been discussed for over a decade. In 2011, reports linked Tom Hanks to a producing role; in 2013, screenwriter Rolin Jones said the script was being "finalized." By 2016, Billie Joe Armstrong told NME the project had been greenlit by HBO, with plans for him to reprise the St. Jimmy role from the Tony-winning Broadway and West End stage musical — a film he described as "surreal" and "aggressive." In 2020, Armstrong said the plan had "basically been shelved," though last year he sounded more optimistic, noting the stage musical has run in Australia, Italy, Germany and the UK, and that a film "probably will happen eventually."
American Idiot relaunched Green Day's career in 2004, giving voice to frustration during the Bush administration and reaching a new generation of fans. A 20th-anniversary reissue released in 2024 included a new documentary, 15 unreleased demos, a live show recorded in New York, plus B-sides and bonus tracks.
About Nimrods and the new song
Written and directed by Lee Kirk, Nimrods follows three teenagers who mistakenly believe their band has landed the opening slot for a Green Day New Year's Eve show. The band appears as themselves and also produced the film, which opened exclusively in UK cinemas on August 11. The soundtrack includes a new song, "I'm Never Gonna R.I.P.," and the band played a surprise set at the film's Los Angeles premiere afterparty last week.