A new comedy film is in the works based on the challenge of getting into the legendary Berlin nightclub Berghain.
Reports emerged earlier this month that the currently-untitled project is in production, inspired by a multi-part episode of the podcast Search Engine, titled, ‘Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain?’
The episodes documented the story of two Americans who flew across the Atlantic to try to get past the notoriously strict entry policy at the club, considered one of the most exclusive in the world.
According to Deadline, the film will be written by Saturday Night Live and Wicked star Bowen Yang and his Las Culturistas podcast co-host Matt Rogers, with the two also set to star as the central characters.
No title or release date has been announced for the film, but it will reportedly be produced and distributed by Disney’s Searchlight Pictures.
Berghain is one of the world’s most famous techno clubs, famous for its huge industrial space and massive soundsystem. Known for its queer-friendly policies, its infamously stringent door policy and long, late-night queues are among its defining features, with bouncers judging wannabe revellers by how closely they ‘fit’ the club’s ethos.
One of the best known of those bouncers, Sven Marquardt, made a cameo in Keanu Reeves’ John Wick: Chapter 4 in 2023.
The club shares its name with a track from Rosalía‘s acclaimed new album ‘Lux’, which was released last month. The track features Björk and Yves Tumor and the artist has said that she drew on the literal meaning of Berghain – the German for “mountain grove” – in writing the song.
In 2021, Berghain was among the clubs that were made eligible for cultural protection by the German federal government, in an effort to help it recover from the effects of COVID and to benefit from tax breaks.
One person who did not enter Berghain was Elon Musk in 2022. He appeared to take offence to the ‘PEACE’ sign on the wall, although it is unclear whether he was denied entry or chose not to enter.