Believe it or not, Matt Damon was a key player in the making of the new U2 documentary, Kiss the Future.
Speaking to ClutchPoints, the documentary's director, Nenad Cicin-Sain, brought up Damon's name on a few occasions. His connection to U2 came via Damon, who goes way back with the band.
“I was also working with Matt Damon on a screenplay at the time and I knew that he had a relationship with Bono based on an incredible story that he told me,” Cicin-Sain said. “So it was just a number of events that all came together that made this thing happen that I can't say that I had full control over. There's a lot of parties involved and there was the fortune of the universe bringing all of us together to be able to make this film.”
Matt Damon's calls
For those that don't know, Kiss the Future is being distributed by AMC Theatres. This is a similar approach taken by Taylor Swift with her “Eras” tour concert film last year. That was a smashing success for the theater chain, as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour made over $260 million worldwide.
Once again, it was Damon who led the charge on landing Kiss the Future distribution.
“He was so passionate, Matt and Drew [Vinton] and Artists Equity and Ben [Affleck] were so passionate about the film,” Nenad Cicin-Sain revealed.
These days, it's hard to find distribution for films. Damon took it upon himself and screened the film for every major studio. Out of these meetings, Kiss the Future found a suitor: Paramount+.
“Matt did the most extraordinary thing. He called the CEO of every studio and said, ‘You have to watch this movie,'” the director revealed. “And it took us a long time. Paramount+ stepped in first, which we were so excited that we're going to get this beautiful platform release by Paramount and that they would want to put the film into the world, but there wasn't the theatrical piece yet.”
The AMC Theatres deal
Eventually, AMC Theatres came to snag the theatrical release. They held special screenings on February 21 at special locations with a live-streamed Q+A. Apparently, the AMC Theatres CEO loved it, which Cicin-Sain called “the ultimate dream come true for a filmmaker.”
It means the world to Cicin-Sain, who acknowledged that documentaries hardly get the spotlight in theaters. “Documentaries don't often get in theaters anymore,” he said. “And if they do, it's only a handful of theaters. And for AMC to say, ‘We believe in this' and they're putting so much into the movie to put it out into the world and supporting it, I don't know that I'll ever have something as fortunate happen as a filmmaker again.
Kiss the Future
Kiss the Future is a new documentary that chronicles U2's triumphant “PopMart” tour concert in Sarajevo in 1997. This came thanks to Bill Carter, who led the force after doing broadcasts from Sarajevo during the band's “ZooTV” tour.
Kiss the Future will be released on February 23.
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