"Sunshine on Leith" was a much-loved stage musical, featuring the songs of Scottish band The Proclaimers, that ran from 2007 to 2013. But when Dexter Fletcher signed on to direct the film adaptation of the musical, he had never seen it.
"People kept asking me what my feelings of the musical were, and how it compared to the movie and so on," he tells The Japan Times, on a promotional visit to Tokyo. "Problem is, I honestly didn't know. When I was first offered the directing job, the stage show wasn't on anymore, and I didn't want to watch the video version of it. So I went into it blindfolded, but with a clean slate and a fresh eye. I had to explain to everyone, over and over again: 'No, haven't seen it, no, I can't compare the two, sorry,' and on and on."
Fletcher had, of course, done the research and stocked up on all the background information. It helped that he used to listen to The Proclaimers and "simply loved their music." According to Fletcher, The Proclaimers (comprised of identical twin brothers Charlie and Craig Reid) pulled off the feat of "touring the world and becoming Scotland's most famous band with one song."