Westlife are hoping to bring their unlikely “fairytale” rise to fame to the big screen.
The chart-topping group – who are in the running for another number one album with their career-spanning 25 – The Ultimate Collection – believe their story deserves the full cinematic treatment after 25 years together.
Speaking to OfficialCharts.com about what could come next for the band, Nicky Byrne said: “A movie! All these boy bands are doing the Netflix thing, but I’d prefer a movie. That’d be way cooler. It could be the full story…”
Shane Filan agreed, adding that the band’s early years would make for a perfect coming-of-age arc: “We could have young kids playing our roles. It’s a proper, fairy tale story.”
Kian said their origins alone are worthy of a script, pointing out how unlikely their success was: “We have such a unique story we could tell. With me, Mark [Feehily] and Shane coming from a small town on the west coast of Ireland, the likelihood of it happening and becoming a success was just bonkers. It’d happen more to the people that came from the city, like Nicky [Byrne] from Dublin who we met a few years later, than it did to us coming from Sligo.”
He added that he still reflects on their beginnings regularly: “I think about our story, where we’ve come from and where we started. I always drive around our local area, where I grew up, pretty much every second or third day. I always take a drive in and remember the things that happened as kids to make all this happen. Those are the moments the fans don’t necessarily know.”
Nicky also teased that a collaborated with Take That is on their bucket list.
He said: “We’re always thinking ‘what have we not done?’ Even looking at collaborations, we’re thinking ‘what’s next – can we do something with Take That?’ You can push the boat out and try anything. Shane’s mate Tom Cruise once said “don’t be afraid to be afraid,” and I think that’s a great quote to live by.”
