After making a splash with the film Bend It Like Beckham in 2002, filmmaker Gurinder Chadha is back. It’s a coming-of-age story set in the ’80s, revolving around the music of Bruce Springsteen. Blinded By The Light gained attention and accolades at film festivals everywhere and will hit theaters on August 14. The film, which is named after the 1973 Springsteen song (later covered more famously by Manfred Mann). Springsteen himself tweeted out the new trailer for the film, which you can check out down below:
According to the film’s official synopis, Blinded by the Light “tells the story of Javed (Viveik Kalra), a British teen of Pakistani descent growing up in the town of Luton, England, in 1987. Amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times, he writes poetry as a means to escape the intolerance of his hometown and the inflexibility of his traditional father. But when a classmate introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, Javed sees parallels to his working-class life in the powerful lyrics. As Javed discovers a cathartic outlet for his own pent-up dreams, he also begins to find the courage to express himself in his own unique voice.”
Movies based on popular music of the past are “in” in a big way right now. Bohemian Rhapsody made a fortune, drawing in fans of Queen all across the globe. And soon Rocketman, based on the life and music of Elton John, will hit theaters. And there and movies based around the lives/music of Elvis, the Beatles, Prince and many others. It seems that legendary musical acts with deep catalogs and loyal fanbases are just as a big a box office draw as comic books. And”The Boss” has had a hardcore and loyal following since the ’70s so this could be an E-Street smash.
Images: Warner Brothers
