Killing Bono

Killing Bono follows Neil and Ivan McCormick, two brothers in Dublin who form a band of their own while their schoolmate Paul Hewson joins a group that becomes U2. Convinced that Paul lacks what it takes to be a star, Neil expects his own band to overtake U2, but as the years pass the opposite happens. What begins as friendly rivalry turns into an obsession with the success that keeps eluding him. The film is based on Neil McCormick's autobiographical book about growing up alongside the members of U2.

Nick Hamm directed the film, which sits between Godsend (2004) and The Journey (2017) in the list of his feature credits. Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais and Simon Maxwell wrote the screenplay, and Mark Huffam, Piers Tempest and Ian Flooks produced. Ben Barnes plays Neil, with Robert Sheehan as Ivan, Pete Postlethwaite as Karl, Krysten Ritter as Gloria, Ralph Brown as Leo and Justine Waddell as Danielle. Released in April 2011, the British and Irish production runs 115 minutes.

Audience response has been moderate. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.4 from around 6,900 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.2 from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 5.3 from 44 reviews places it somewhat below the audience scores, suggesting reviewers were less enthusiastic than general viewers.