The music of Take That provided the soundtrack to the lives of many a teenager in the early 1990s. And now the beloved band's hit songs are being brought to the big screen in the toe-tapping musical movie, Greatest Days.
An uplifting and universal story of love and friendship — with an awesome soundtrack — it's adapted from the smash-hit stage show of the same name.
Here's everything we know about Greatest Days...
Greatest Days release date
Greatest Days lands in movie theaters across the UK on Friday, June 16, following a star-studded premiere in London on June 15.
Will Take That be in attendance? We couldn't possibly say!
The movie will be coming to Prime Video at a later date.
What's Greatest Days about?
Greatest Days is the jukebox musical movie that follows five young best friends who have the night of their lives seeing their favourite boyband in concert in the 1990s.
In the present day, 25 years on, the friends reunite for one more epic show by their beloved band and discover their lives have all changed in many different ways. Can they relight their friendship after all these years?
Greatest Days is written by Tim Firth, who also wrote the stage show of the same name (originally titled The Band) on which the film is based, directed by Coky Giedroyc and produced by Danny Perkins. Take That's Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald are credited as executive producers.
"Greatest Days is a movie basically for anybody who loved their friends when they were growing up, and anybody who loved a band. So, we’ve all been there,” says Coky.
"And that universality is so important. Sometimes in a musical, you'll find that the songs can lift you into another state that perhaps the story isn't doing. But here everything is at that high bar. We've got a story that works without the songs as well. The songs and the dance numbers just lift it."
What's the plot of Greatest Days?
Greatest Days follows 16-year old Rachel and her gang of four best friends from Clitheroe, Lancashire — Debbie, Claire, Zoe and Heather — who become firm friends through their shared love of a boyband they watch religiously on Top Of The Pops every week.
After a life-changing event sees the young girls go their separate ways, they reunite 25 years later, when Rachel wins a local radio competition to see the boys on their reunion tour in Greece.
Inviting the older Claire, Zoe and Heather along for the ride, Rachel and her old pals’ journey to the Greek capital of Athens on a vibrant and hilarious musical odyssey packed with revelations, tears, hilarious drunken escapades, and a lot of laying ghosts to rest.
"But, also, a rediscovered joy as they suddenly explode into this new friendship," says its writer, Tim Firth, who also wrote the stage show upon which Greatest Days is based.
"The situation needs them, as women of 40, to listen to and, in fact, be revisited by the versions of themselves at 16, to allow themselves to move on."
For Take That, it was important that the movie focused on one thing — the fans.
"That was always important to us,” says Mark Owen, who along with Gary and their fellow bandmate Howard Donald worked closely with this production as it has reimagined their music for movie theater audiences. “It was only right that this story would turn the spotlight on the fans. Without them, we wouldn't be here."
With the film having been put on hold by the pandemic for two long years, the band is thrilled it's now complete.
"That it’s finally here is so satisfying," says Howard. "It's surreal that a film is being made with our music, but it really makes me smile. This film is a massive feel-good experience."
Who's in the cast?
Greatest Days central character of 'older' Rachel is played to perfection by renowned comedy actress Aisling Bea, who stars alongside former Strictly Come Dancing 2022 favourite Jayde Adams as Claire, Bodies' Amaka Okafor as Zoe and Horrible Histories' Alice Lowe as Heather.
Playing their younger counterparts are Lara McDonnell as Rachel, Carragon Guest as Claire, Nandi Hudson as Zoe, Eliza Dobson as Heather and Jessie Mae Alonzo as Debbie.
The Boys - aka The Band - are brought to life by Aaron Bryan, Dalvin Sol, Joshua Jung, Mark Samaras and Mervin Noronha.
Special mention should also go to Nativity star Marc Wootton, who plays Rachel's long-suffering partner Jeff, and The Bay's Matthew McNulty as you've never seen him before...
So, is Greatest Days a movie about Take That?
No, it isn't. Greatest Days is not a story about Take That's meteoric rise to fame; rather, just like the stage musical of the same name, it's a standalone story played out to a soundtrack of Take That's biggest hits.
Throughout the movie, Rachel summons The Boys from her imagination into a magical realism that turns the girls' mundane surroundings into an all-singing, all-dancing epic musical packed with vibrant colours, fantastic choreography and outlandish costumes to reimagined new versions of Take That’s songs, including Relight My Fire, Never Forget, Back For Good, Shine, Rule The World and, of course, Greatest Days.
"The boys will always be Rachel’s support system," explains leading lady Aisling. "She may not have needed them as much lately as she did before, but when she does need them, they are always there for her. Even when sometimes she wishes they weren't!"
"People keep saying this is a Take That movie, but it’s not about Take That,” she adds. "To be absolutely clear: I, spoiler alert, do not play Gary Barlow in the origin story of Take That."
And it seems the man in question couldn't be happier with the results. "Everyone on this production has done a beautiful job," Gary says of the finished film. "The direction, the cinematography, the acting, all of it. It’s fantastic. Picture amplifies music, just as music amplifies picture. When those two stars align, you’ve got something so special. I can't fault it."
Do Take That themselves appear in the film?
Without giving anything away, keep your eyes peeled for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment featuring Gary, Mark and Howard.
As producer Danny Perkins explains: "We talked to Take That about having a cameo in the film and about all the different locations that we were going to film in. And, obviously, when Athens was mentioned, that was where they wanted to do their cameo."
With Tim Firth and Coky Giedroyc coming up with an appropriate new scene in the script, Gary Barlow flew into Athens from Australia, Mark Owen from Los Angeles, and Howard Donald from his home in the UK. They landed on the afternoon of May 18, 2022 and wrapped at 3 am the next day. "And do you know what?” Mark Owen says: “It was worth every minute."
Is there a trailer for Greatest Days?
There sure is. Watch below for a toe-tapping taster...
Greatest Days lands in movie theaters across the UK on Friday June 16.
