‘American Idiot’ Documentary Hits Theaters in October

A documentary film covering the journey of Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day frontman, as he made the move to Broadway in the rock musical American Idiot. The full-length documentary entitled Broadway Idiot will be released in New York movie theatres October 11.

The documentary follows Billie Joe from the night of a concert at Madison Square Garden as he embarks upon the journey of turning his punk rock album into a stage musical only 10 blocks away. It gives the audience a behind the scenes look by including footage from rehearsal and opening night. By the end of the film, viewers will be able to see how Armstrong was impacted by the process and ultimately significantly changed.

The original cast of the Broadway show American Idiot is featured in the film. Cast members include John Gallagher Jr. who plays Johnny, Mary Faber who plays Heather, Micheal Esper who plays Will, Christina Sajous who plays The Extraordinary Girl, Stark Sands as Tunny, Tony Vincent as St. Jimmy, and Rebecca Naomi Jones who plays Whatsername. The Broadway show tells the conflicting stories of Johnny and Tunny who are working to get away from their lifestyle which they feel is not beneficial to them, while their friend Will chooses to stay home to mend his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend.

March 15, the documentary premiered at the Paramount Theatre as a part of SXSW’s “24 Beats Per Second” festival of films. May 4, it was screened at Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Roda Theatre.

Broadway Idiot is directed by Doug Hamilton. It also features contributions from Dan Krauss as cinematographer, Rob Tinworth as editor, Greg McCleary as sound designer, and Green Day (the band Billie Joe Armstrong is the lead of) contributing the music.

A wider release of the film as well as video on demand will come a week later on October 18.