Director John Carney is known for his music-themed movies – the likes of Once, Begin Again and Sing Street – and at first glance, his upcoming film, Power Ballad, appears to tick a lot of the same boxes.
In a trailer that’s just dropped, we see “past-his-prime wedding singer” Rick (Paul Rudd) finding an unlikely musical bedfellow in “fading boyband star” Danny (Nick Jonas), and the scene seems set for them to write a song together and conquer the world with it.
However, it looks like there’s a twist: instead of working harmoniously, it appears that Danny ends up taking one of Rick’s songs and turning it into a hit without taking Rick along for the ride.
As you might expect, Rick isn’t ready to take this lying down and so “sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves - even if it means risking everything he cares about.”
Whereas disputes like this are usually raised by legal means and often settled out of court, it looks like Danny and Rick ending up coming to blows over their beef. Given that the movie is billed as “a feelgood story about music, self-respect, friendship, and the price of ambition,” though, we suspect that they might work things out in the end.
As well as directing and co-writing the film, IMDB indicates that John Carney also co-wrote the music for Power Ballad alongside Gary Clark, who he previously collaborated with on the Sing Street soundtrack. It’ll be released on 5 June.
