Punk Legends Rancid and Green Day Bring Their Stories to Film

The pulse of punk never dies—it simply finds new ways to electrify audiences. In 2025, two of punk rock’s most enduring forces, Rancid and Green Day, are making the leap from stage to screen, bringing their stories to the silver screen in two highly anticipated films. With both bands carving their own paths from the gritty clubs of the Bay Area to worldwide acclaim, their latest ventures into cinema only reinforce their legacy as pioneers of the punk movement.

Their movies will be making waves in theaters, both Rancid and Green Day—who emerged from the same Bay Area punk explosion but carved out distinctly different careers—were reunited last year for a stadium tour that celebrates their decades-long impact on punk rock.

From the gritty clubs of Gilman Street to sold-out stadiums, both bands have taken punk to unimaginable heights. Rancid stayed true to their raw, working-class anthems, while Green Day pushed into pop-punk superstardom. In 2024 an unexpected full-circle moment, they shared the stages once more on a national US stadium tour ‘The Saviors tour’ in celebration of their January 19, 2024 full-length release, Saviors. Rancid Released Tomorrow Never Comes in June of 2023 bringing their legacies together in what was to be one of the biggest punk tours of the decade.

Out Come The Wolves:

Inspired by Rancid’s seminal 1995 album …And Out Come the Wolves, the upcoming indie drama Out Come The Wolves is set against the mid-’90s East Bay punk scene. The multi-episode drama stars follows a group of restless teenagers determined to escape the confines of their deteriorating city, navigating a world of violence, desperation, and fleeting hope.

Directed by Danny Peykoff and featuring a cast of rising stars, including Orlando Norman, Spence Moore II, Heidi Grace Engerman, and Cassady McClincy Zhang, the film promises to channel the raw energy of Rancid’s music into a gripping coming-of-age drama. Written by Jason and Jamie Neese—best known for their work on Umbrella Academy and Cruel Summer—Out Come The Wolves seeks to capture the defiant spirit and struggles that defined a generation of punk kids seeking something more.

With filming underway in Portland, Oregon, Out Come The Wolves is a love letter to punk’s unbreakable will, a cinematic portrayal of the same energy that fueled Rancid’s meteoric rise from the streets of the Bay Area to international fame.

New Years Rev:

On the other end of the punk spectrum, Green Day is bringing their own brand of chaos to the big screen with New Years Rev, a high-energy comedy produced by Live Nation Productions. Unlike Out Come The Wolves, this film takes a lighter, more mischievous approach, chronicling the journey of three young musicians who mistakenly believe they’ve landed a spot opening for Green Day on New Year’s Eve in Los Angeles.

Written and directed by Lee Kirk, the film stars Mason Thames, Kylr Coffman, and Ryan Foust as the ambitious trio navigating an unpredictable road trip filled with misadventures. Featuring The Office alums Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, alongside Ignacio Diaz-Silverio and Keen Ruffalo, New Years Rev is a nostalgic nod to Green Day’s early years—when life on the road meant long nights, endless miles, and the relentless pursuit of rock and roll dreams.

Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong described the film’s theme best: “Van days rule. You will drive all night on no sleep then play a show for 10 kids in a basement of a friend of a friend’s house 50 miles east of anywhere you’ve ever heard of. But you’ll do it again the next day, and the one after that. Because you’re doing it with your bandmates who become your family, and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever known.”

Punk’s rebellious heart beats loud and clear in Out Come The Wolves and New Years Rev. While vastly different in tone, both films offer audiences a glimpse into the world that shaped these legendary bands—one a raw and gritty drama, the other a wild and rowdy ride. Whether you were there when Rancid and Green Day first exploded onto the scene or are just discovering the bands for the first time, these films promise to bring the unrelenting spirit of punk to a whole new generation.

For punks, misfits, and dreamers alike, these movies aren’t just about music—they’re about the movement, the struggle, and the undying passion to break free. And as 2024 proves, punk isn’t just surviving; it’s thriving, from the shindigs to the silver screen.