The 'What If The Future Never Happened?' Trailer Turns Daniel Johns' Teen Years Into a Sci-Fi Film

The semi-autobiographical featurette stars Rasmus King, a dead ringer for the Aussie Silverchair muso in his teenage years, and ponders what might've happened if things turned out differently.
Sarah Ward
June 03, 2022

In 1994, when Daniel Johns was just 15 years old, he became one of the biggest music stars in the country. Silverchair's 'Tomorrow' hasn't just a hit — it was a song that turned a group of Aussie teenagers into instant legends, soundtracked the mid-90s and helped define growing up in Australia at the time. Saying it was huge really isn't quite saying enough.

But what if things hadn't turned out that way? That feels almost unthinkable, but Daniel Johns himself has been thinking it. And, he's made it the premise of a new featurette — not a full-length movie, not exactly a short either, and not really a music video — called What If The Future Never Happened?.

In the film, it's 1994 again. Daniel isn't a teenage rockstar yet, but that's only months off. Then, on a normal day in regional Australia — whether or not it'll actually be Newcastle, that's what we'll all be thinking — Daniel's future changes while he's trying to escape three local bullies, all thanks to a mysterious figure. You wait till tomorrow indeed.

What If The Future Never Happened? has just dropped a trailer, and it looks as moody, as stepped in all things 90s, and as eager to play around with sci-fi and fantasy as as you'd expect — and the casting of surfer, actor and musician Rasmus King (Barons, Bosch & Rockit) as Johns is downright uncanny. He could've stepped right out of the 'Tomorrow' music video and into the featurette. Perhaps that'll be the concept behind a future movie?

Hailed as "from the mind of Daniel Johns" — and clearly based on his life — What If The Future Never Happened? is written and directed by James Medlam (who boasts helming Dune Rats' 'No Plans' music video on his resume). It's also co-penned by producer Heath George and based on a story by Heath Johns, aka Daniel's brother.

While exactly when and where it'll drop hasn't been revealed, Daniel Johns' latest solo studio album FutureNever released back in April — and yes, he has a theme at the moment.

Check out the trailer for What If The Future Never Happened? below:

What If The Future Never Happened? doesn't yet have a release date — we'll update you when it does.

Published on June 03, 2022 by Sarah Ward
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