The world’s greatest story about star-crossed lovers is about to be made into a movie! No, we’re not talking about a new Romeo and Juliet: Avril Lavigne has shared her plans to turn 2003 mega-hit single “Sk8er Boi” into a movie to commemorate the song’s 20th anniversary.
Here’s what we know. On the podcast She Is the Voice on iHeartRadio, Avril discussed her upcoming new album that returns to the alt pop-rock sound of her early music and working with Travis Barker, as well as ruminating on her debut 2002 album Let Go, which became one of the best-selling albums of the decade. With the help of singles “Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi”, it cemented her status as a pop-punk princess. “To this day it is one of my favourite songs to play live,” Avril said of “Sk8er Boi” to podcast host Lisa Warden, adding that she often gets asked to perform the song on TV shows. “I’m actually going to turn this song into a film and take it to the next level,” she casually added, as if she didn’t just drop a massive nostalgia bomb on to our lives. Apart from this tidbit of information, Avril didn’t share anything else about the movie, or its current status.
For those who don’t know every lyric of the pop-punk classic from a 17-year old Avril off by heart, the song tells the tale of a “baggy clothes”-wearing skateboarder and a popular it girl ballerina at high school who both fancy each other but the latter is so preoccupied with social status that she rejects him. Five years later, and the girl who once said “see you later, boy” because he wasn’t good enough for her has spotted the eponymous skater boy “rockin on MTV”. So she turns up to one of his concerts, reminiscing over her lost love while his new girlfriend, narrating the song, chastises her for judging him based on society’s expectations. Canon.
It’s a story that feels like it was destined to be a 00s movie, sharing a DVD 3-disc case with Freaky Friday and Bring It On, and Avril’s latest revelation isn’t the first time the song has been considered for an adaptation. According to Billboard, when it first began to make waves on radio stations globally in 2003, Paramount Pictures hired ER show runner David Zabel to pen a script based on the song’s lyrics.
Hopefully though, with the current 00s cultural renaissance, it won’t be too long until we’re watching Olivia Rodrigo in her Oscar-winning role as the ballerina who “couldn’t see the man that boy could be”.
Follow i-D on Instagram and TikTok for more 00s nostalgia.