#FIRSTLOOK: “BONO: STORIES OF SURRENDER” COMING TO APPLE TV+

Today, Apple Original Films announced the groundbreaking new documentary event “Bono: Stories of Surrender,” a lyrical, bold visual exploration of Bono’s one-man show by the same name, to premiere globally on Friday, May 30, 2025 on Apple TV+. Based on his celebrated memoir “Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story,” and the accompanying book/theatre tour, the film hails from RadicalMedia and Plan B Entertainment, with award-winning filmmaker Andrew Dominik (“The Assassination of Jesse James,” “Blonde”) directing.

“Bono: Stories of Surrender” is a vivid reimagining of Bono’s critically-acclaimed one-man stage show, “Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief…,” as he pulls back the curtain on a remarkable life and the family, friends, and faith that have challenged and sustained him, revealing personal stories about his journey as a son, father, husband, activist and rockstar. Along with never-before-seen, exclusive footage from the Beacon Theatre shows, the film features Bono performing many of the iconic U2 songs that have shaped his life and legacy.

Also set to premiere on May 30, 2025 on Apple Vision Pro, “Bono: Stories of Surrender (Immersive)” will be the first feature-length film available in Apple Immersive Video, a remarkable media format recorded in 8K with Spatial Audio to produce a 180-degree video that places viewers onstage with Bono and in the centre of his story. With this special edition of the film available only on Vision Pro, viewers will feel completely immersed in the music and storytelling of Surrender. Releasing an immersive version of the film for Vision Pro alongside its debut on Apple TV+ is the latest example of Bono’s enduring commitment to innovation. Since U2’s earliest days, Bono and the band have consistently pushed boundaries and embraced new technologies to forge deeper and unexpected connections with their audience.

Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning RadicalMedia’s Jon Kamen and Dave Sirulnick (“Summer of Soul,” “Hamilton,” “David Byrne’s American Utopia”) produce alongside Academy Award-winning Plan B Entertainment’s Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner (upcoming “F1,” “Moonlight,” “12 Years a Slave”). Bono executive produces with Jennifer Pitcher (“Kiss The Future”) and Kelly McNamara (“V-U2 an Immersive Concert Film at Sphere Las Vegas”).

“Bono: Stories of Surrender,” an abridged and updated paperback edition of Bono’s bestselling memoir, will be released concurrently with the documentary film. Introspective, intimate and irreverent in equal measure, this version has been refined to mirror the arc of his one-man show and features a film tie-in book cover and new introduction by the author.

Born Paul David Hewson, Bono has been headlining stadiums around the world with U2 for more than four decades. The band has sold over 175 million records and won 22 Grammys. A longtime activist in the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty, Bono is also the co-founder of ONE and (RED). For his music and activism, he has been awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, France’s Legion of Honour and an honorary British knighthood.

“Bono: Stories of Surrender” joins the award-winning slate of Apple Original documentary films, including the recently announced untitled feature on legendary rock icons Fleetwood Mac; Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim’s “STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” which swept the Critics Choice Documentary Awards with five wins, alongside four Emmy Award wins; Emmy Award-nominated “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me,” a uniquely raw and intimate documentary spanning her six-year journey into a new light; Emmy Award-nominated and PGA Award-winning “STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces,” featuring legendary writer, producer, director, actor and comedian Steve Martin; and, Emmy Award-nominated “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry,” among many others.

Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favourite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have earned 553 wins and 2,557 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and historic Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”

About Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $12.99 per month with a seven-day free trial for new subscribers. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.*

#FIRSTLOOK: “BONO & THE EDGE: A SORT OF HOMECOMING, WITH DAVID LETTERMAN” NEW TRAILER

Disney+ recently announced feature-length music docu-special “Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman,” in which Academy Award^®-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville captures Dave Letterman on his first visit to Dublin to hang out with Bono and The Edge in their hometown, experience Dublin, and join the two U2 musicians for a concert performance unlike any they’ve done before. Disney Branded Television President Ayo Davis made the announcement today, unveiling a first-look teaser of the docu-special during her TCA remarks. “Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman,” from Disney Branded Television, is set to premiere globally on Disney+ on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, coinciding with U2’s highly anticipated album “Songs Of Surrender” ― a collection of 40 seminal U2 songs from across the band’s catalog, re-recorded and reimagined. The docu-special is the latest in Disney+ music specials from Disney Branded Television, including last year’s highly successful “Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium” and the critically acclaimed “Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl,” both currently streaming on Disney+. BONO & THE EDGE: A SORT OF HOMECOMING, WITH DAVID LETTERMAN arrives March 17, 2023 on Disney+.

https://twitter.com/DisneyPlusCA/status/1628816964314615809?cxt=HHwWgsDSocaZ3JotAAAA

From Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Documentaries, Neville’s Tremolo Productions, and Dave Letterman’s Worldwide Pants, “Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman” is part concert movie, part travel adventure plus a whole lot of Bono and The Edge, with Dave’s humor throughout.

As well as the concert performance itself, the docu-special will focus on the extraordinary relationship between Bono and The Edge and how it has developed across 45-plus years of close friendship and one of the most remarkable songwriting partnerships in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, plus document Dublin through Dave’s eyes as he experiences Bono and The Edge’s home city for the first time. 

“Bono and The Edge are the force behind one of the most prolific and influential acts in the history of rock and roll, and we are honored to bring this truly intimate look at their beginnings, friendship, and creative process to a global audience on Disney+,” said Davis.

“Recently, I won a radio contest,” said Letterman. “Winner gets to visit Dublin with Bono and The Edge (radio contest part not true, but I feel like a winner). They showed me around, introduced me to their musician friends, and performed some of their greatest songs in a small theater. It’s a great tour. Get in touch with them ― I’m told there are still availabilities. I’m the luckiest man on the planet. (There are no availabilities).”

Letterman, who accepted an invitation from the two U2 bandmates to join them in Dublin for his first-ever visit to Ireland, has a 25-year relationship with U2 but had previously only spent time with the Bono and The Edge in the U.S. As well as being their honored guest at an intimate concert performance at a local landmark, the former Ambassador Cinema building at the top of O’Connell Street on Dublin’s Northside, Dave embarks on his own exploration of the city. He visits the legendary Forty Foot swimming spot on a freezing cold morning and rides the DART commuter train north from Co. Wicklow. Letterman also inspires a brand new U2 song written by The Edge and Bono and narrowly escapes having to perform at a sing-song at the legendary McDaid’s pub off Grafton Street with an equally legendary bunch of artists and musicians, including Bono, The Edge, Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Imelda May, Loah, Saint Sister, Grian Chatten of Fontaines DC, and Dermot Kennedy, whose voice Bono describes as a “sonic boom.”

“I fell in love with U2 and David Letterman at roughly the same time, somewhere around my sophomore year of high school,” said director Morgan Neville. “That somehow decades later we would all come together in Ireland to make this show was an unlikely dream somehow come to life.”

“I had this incredible dream that I was in the magical city of Dublin with Bono, The Edge and David Letterman,” said producer Justin Wilkes. “And if it wasn’t for the fact that Morgan beautifully captured it all on film, I still wouldn’t believe it actually happened.”

The film was shot on location in New York and Los Angeles and, of course, in Dublin, Ireland.

Also announced this week, a new album titled “Songs Of Surrender” ― a collection of 40 seminal U2 songs from across the band’s catalog, re-recorded and reimagined for 2023 in sessions spanning the last two years, to be released in full on Friday, March 17. The first track to be made available from this brand new set of recordings is the anthemic “Pride (In The Name Of Love),” listen here. “Songs Of Surrender” is curated and produced by The Edge and sees the band revisit some of the most celebrated songs of their 40-plus year career, including “With Or Without You,” “One,” “Beautiful Day,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Invisible,” for a musical reimagining resulting in a completely new recording of each track, to include the arrangements and, in some cases, new lyrics.

“Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman” is produced by Imagine Documentaries, Tremolo Productions, and Dave Letterman’s Worldwide Pants. For Imagine Documentaries, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes are executive producers; Séamus Murphy-Mitchell is producer; and Meredith Kaulfers and Mike Sweeney are co-executive producers. For Tremolo, Morgan Neville is director and producer, and Caitrin Roger is executive producer. For Worldwide Pants, Tom Keaney is executive producer, and Mary Barclay is co-executive producer. For Disney Branded Television, Marc Buhaj is vice president, Unscripted and Nonfiction, and Marjon Javadi is vice president, Documentary Films and Docuseries.

(Photo/video credit: Disney+)

#SUPERBOWL: WATCH THE BEST 2014 SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS

It was another star-studded Super Bowl and more than ever Companies are hoping for Big Ticket Stars to push sales of their Products through the roof with the power of Celebrity Endorsement. The likes of Scarlett Johansson, Ellen DeGeneres, Bruce Willis, U2, Tim Tebow, Laurence Fishburne, Bob Saget, John Stamos, David Coulier, David Beckham, Sarah McLachlan, Stephen Colbert, Terry Crews and several more graced our Television Screens this year as we watched the Seattle Seahawks demolish the favoured Denver Broncos.

Here are some of this year’s more memorable TV Spots:

Ellen DeGeneres dresses-up as Goldilocks for newly-launched Beats Music. Watch here.

David Beckham for his H&M Bodywear Spring Collection. Watch here.

A young Girl is told she soon will be a Big Sister, but not without a cost to her Parents.  Watch the Cheerios Commercial here.

Stephen Colbert for Wonderful Pistachios.  Watch here.

U2 for Bank of America in support of the RED Campaign.  You can download their new Single Invincible free on iTunes for 24 hours. Watch here.

Audi delivers the laughs with a fictitious Dober-huahua Breed of Dog. Even Sarah McLachlan joins-in on the fun! Watch here.

Laurence Fishburne takes us back to The Matrix for Kia. Watch here.

Terry Crews & The Muppets for Toyota. Watch here.

Budweiser salutes a Hero with a big, warm Welcome Home.  Watch here.

Budweiser melts our hearts with a Golden Retriever Puppy and a Clydesdale Horse.  Watch here.

Doritos takes us on a journey through time in a Time Machine.  Watch here.

Doritos pays homage to The Lone Ranger. Watch here.

Oikos reunites John Stamos with Full House Co-Stars David Coulier and Bob Saget.  Watch here.

Heinz makes us happy with their original glass bottle. Watch here.

(Photo/video credit: NFL.Com)