Bono's new film in 'mixed reality' better than the real thing - but definitely not cheaper
Bono's new film has been shot in a special high-tech 'mixed reality' version – but even his most ardent fans may baulk at the cost of the new technology that can bring them virtually onstage with the U2 star.
A special immersive version of Bono's new film takes the viewer 'close enough to see the faint scar in his chest' from his heart surgery – once you can afford the €3,000-plus technology required to watch it.
Bono: Stories of Surrender, based on the U2 frontman's 2022 memoir and accompanying tour, premiered at Cannes this week to mixed reviews. And, in the latest of a series of linkups between U2 and Apple spanning two decades, the tech giant has also produced a version specially for viewing on its Apple Vision Pro headset. U2. Pic: Victor Chavez/REX/Shutterstock (14374810ek)
It is the first ever feature film created for the 'mixed reality' device, which is similar to a virtual reality headset but blends digital content with the real world to give users 'an unparalleled sense of realism and immersion.'
Retailing from around €3,100, even the band's most loyal fans may have to miss out on the chance to be 'onstage with Bono and in the centre of his story', as Apple TV+ puts it.
In an interview with the singer last week, Deadline Hollywood said watching Stories of Surrender through the device 'reveals a uniquely close and personal experience, complete with Bono's own drawings that sprout up in the wide frame'. Apple Vision Pro. Pic: Getty Images
The industry website said the technology 'places the viewer right up there onstage alongside Bono, close enough to see the faint scar in his chest where the heart surgeon saved his life [in 2016]'.
Bono told interviewer Mike Fleming Jr the special version is 'really playful', but admitted the experience will be prohibitively expensive for many fans.
'I know Apple are dying to make the Vision Pro more affordable and more democratic,' he said. Irish singer Bono Vox (Paul David Hewson) at the Cannes Film Festival 2025. Pic: Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
'They know not everyone can afford this, but they're still going for it, believing that some way down the line, it'll make financial sense for them.'
The 65-year-old rocker said that intimacy is 'at the heart' of the recent book, tour and film projects centred on his storied life.
'I tell my friends, 'Intimacy is the new punk rock,'' he told Deadline. Irish singer Bono (Paul David Hewson) with his family. Pic: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images
'If I'm going to do one of these memoirs, I'd better really go there. It shouldn't be the same approach others have taken.
'We performed in The Sphere [in Las Vegas], and that is what got me to Vision Pro. The core of this is, 'Can we make this radical intimacy?' Does that sound pretentious? Probably.'
The films (the 2D version is also available on Apple TV+ from May 30) are the latest in a string of collaborations between U2 and Apple.
When the tech behemoth launched its digital music catalogue iTunes in 2003, it contained an exclusive U2 single featuring an acoustic version of Stuck In A Moment and two live tracks.
The following year, Apple launched a special edition iPod preloaded with U2's back catalogue and featuring elements of the band's branding on its casing.
Later in 2004, the band released their Complete U2 Digital Box Set exclusively to iTunes. The collection featured over 400 recordings, including previously unreleased material. But a 2014 marketing initiative proved a major misstep for both the opinion-splitting band and Apple. U2 performed their new single The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) at an Apple product unveiling and announced the surprise release of their 13th studio album, Songs of Innocence.
However, the album was automatically downloaded to the music libraries of all iTunes customers, without charge, leading to much irritation from non-fans at having the work foisted upon them at the expense of disc space.
It even proved difficult to remove, with Apple creating a special feature to permanently delete it. Bono later took 'full responsibility' for the gaffe, writing in his memoir: 'I'd thought if we could just put our music within reach of people, they might choose to reach out towards it. Not quite. As one social media wisecracker put it, 'Woke up this morning to find Bono in my kitchen, drinking my coffee, wearing my dressing gown, reading my paper.'
Speaking to RTÉ's Brendan O'Connor yesterday about why he undertook the latest project, Bono said: '[When you become famous] you turn into a caricature. I wanted to explain to people the origin behind all the success U2 has had. And I wanted to let people in and take off the armour, talk about my life growing up, my family and the things that make you the way you are.'
Asked about how the rest of his U2 bandmates reacted to his memoir, stage-show and now the film, he jokingly noted: 'I've read their memoirs.'
'The Edge has definitely seen the film. He thought my head looked even bigger on the screen at Cannes. Larry [Mullen Jr] is more of a Western man, and he doesn't believe anything I do outside of U2 exists? Adam [Clayton] was good'.
He said his 'little family opera' came in the 'absence' of a new U2 album. Bono added: 'It's the band that gave me permission to sell my wares, activism or my music.'
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