Ed Sheeran has revealed that he has held discussions with film execs to create a biopic of his life, which he has described as “8 Mile set in Ipswich” in what may be the dullest sentence to have ever fallen out of anyone’s mouth.
Sheeran, who strong-armed his way into the music industry despite having the presence of that cousin at a wedding whose name you can never remember, now apparently has his sights set on movies. In an interview with Q, he said: “I want to have an 8 Mile moment but 8 Mile meets Notting Hill.
“Not gritty like Detroit but, like, Ipswich. I’ve got loads of songs about Ipswich that haven’t come out so I could make a soundtrack.”
And there you have it: the most mundane premise for a film imaginable. Sheeran continued to describe his film aspirations in another interview with The Sun: “I really want to make a film that I do the soundtrack for and star in — that’s my next thing,” he said.
“I look at a film like Notting Hill and I think that’s like a brilliant benchmark, or Once. So if you were to mix Notting Hill with Once, I would say that would be a good start.”
Ed Sheeran wants the film to be “‘8 Mile’ but set in Ipswich”.
He continued: “I don’t think I will do an album as a soundtrack, but I will definitely put together a soundtrack with a bunch of my songs on it. I am in talks with one filmmaker that I really love and we are going to slowly but surely put something together.
“I would want to cast all unknowns. I want to have a low-budget, indie, British-made film.”
So if you’ve ever wanted to see a mish-mash between 8 Mile, Notting Hill and Once, then apparently Ed’s your man. Now those who claim that money “can’t buy you everything” need look no further than him, with his £28.5 million net worth affording him the opportunity to make a movie based in f**king Ipswich.
There’s no word yet on when the film is planned to go into production, though Ed is soon set to give acting a shot when he makes a cameo appearance in the seventh season of Game of Thrones, set to premiere on July 16. The singer songwriter was brought onto the show in order to surprise Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark in the HBO series, as she’s a big fan of the UK musician.