A Gorillaz film is in the works at Netflix, confirmed frontman Damon Albarn in an interview with Apple Music.
Albarn said, “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.”
The Gorillaz is an English virtual band created in 1998 by musicians Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. Each band member is represented by animated characters, including 2D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Russel Hobbs (drums). Throughout the years, the Gorillaz have appeared across music videos, interviews, and short films as their animated counterparts. Even when the band is performing in front of a live crowd, they do so as 3D renderings of their animated characters. Some of the band’s biggest hits include songs like Feel Good Inc. ft. De La Soul, Clint Eastwood ft. Del the Funky Homosapien”, “19-2000”, Rhinestone Eyes, and Dirty Harry ft. Bootie Brown to name a few.
Back in October 2020, Albarn said that the band had “signed contracts” and “begun scripts.” He told Radio.com that “Making an animated film that’s kind of abstract is quite a big risk for a movie studio because they’re very expensive.” He went on to say, “I see a lot of people doing animated videos these days, but I don’t think they really touch the quality of ours. We’re more in the world of Studio Ghibli.”
Hewlett’s characters, who have appeared in both 2D and CG animation, have had a huge influence on character design in animated films and shows, video games, and comics. Their music has also been used in many hit films and shows including Trolls, How to Lose a Guy in 10 days, and Outer Banks.
Gorillaz released their most recent album, Song Machine: Season One, in October of last year. The new Gorillaz film does not have a release date yet, but hopefully it won’t take too long until there’s an official announcement with fresh details.
