Back in February, Gorillaz released a short film to accompany their new album, The Mountain. While the visual project was well-received, it reignited long-standing fan curiosity regarding a potential full-length movie starring the virtual band. Although a feature film was in development several years ago, the band has now confirmed that the project is dead—and that the decision to walk away was entirely their own.
In a candid interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, co-creator Jamie Hewlett addressed the status of the project, making it clear that the band’s creative priorities have shifted. “If we’d done a movie 25 years ago, fine, but the idea of doing a movie now… it just doesn’t have… no interest in it whatsoever,” Hewlett explained. “It’s not an interesting idea, it’s not an original idea.”
The band had previously entered into a partnership with Netflix, which initially offered them significant creative freedom and funding. However, the bureaucratic nature of the collaboration proved to be a major obstacle. Hewlett described the frustration of the process, noting, “We had this moment with Netflix where we were literally told, ‘You can do whatever you want and we’ll give you as much money [as you want],’ and we’re like, ‘OK, great,’ and we had some brilliant ideas, but it was just moving so slow, and the guy we were working with just left, and they said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find someone else,’ and it’s like, OK, there’s going to be another year of conversations before this starts again. So we pulled out.”
Damon Albarn echoed this sentiment, adding, “I just felt like I was hanging around for what seemed an eternity.”
With the film project officially off the table, the band is focusing their energy on their live performances. Fans can catch the band on their extensive 2026 tour, which includes stops across Europe and North America.
