AMC Theatres has reached a deal to exclusively screen the U2 music documentary “Kiss the Future,” which will be released at the chain’s locations on Feb. 23 with special screenings in Dolby Cinemas on Feb. 21.
Premiering at last year’s Berlin Film Festival, “Kiss the Future” tells the story of how U2 was contacted by an American aid worker based in Sarajevo, asking the band to help raise awareness of the suffering in Bosnia as it was attacked by Serbian forces during the breakup of Yugoslavia. The band agreed and across the summer of 1993, their Zoo TV Tour featured live satellite interviews with local Sarajevans who described their plight to the concert-goers.
At the end of the tour, U2 pledged to hold a concert in Sarajevo after the war was over, and “Kiss the Future” shows how the band fulfilled that promise, performing in front a liberated Sarajevo to 45,000 fans.
Nenad Cicin-Sain directed the documentary, with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck serving as producers through Artists Equity with Sarah Anthony and Ned O’Hanlon. Fifth Season produced and financed the film and is handling global distribution rights on the film with WME, negotiating the deal with AMC on behalf of the filmmakers.
“AMC Theatres has a long-standing commitment to bring powerful and personal stories to the big screen with our AMC Artisan Films program,” said Elizabeth Frank, worldwide programming EVP and chief content officer for AMC Theatres. “We are excited to support Director, Nenad Cicin-Sain, Artists Equity, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in sharing this inspiring film.”
“Kiss the Future” represents the newest stage in AMC’s endeavors to use music films to fill in holes on the release slate left behind by the major studios. Last fall, the chain surprised Hollywood when it secured a deal to directly release the concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” last October alongside indie distributor Variance Entertainment.
Without the aid of major studios, the film grossed $261 million at the global box office, with its $180 million domestic total setting a box office record for concert films.
AMC enjoyed more modest success with the Beyonce concert film “Renaissance,” which grossed $44 million worldwide in early December to rank sixth on the all-time concert film charts.
