UPDATE: Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong indeed will be playing the pivotal role of St. Jimmy in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, "American Idiot," THR reports. He occassionally guest-starred in the part on stage.

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Can you still be "punk" if you're concept album launched a Broadway musical and is being adapted by the guy who wrote "Milk" into a feature film? Probably not -- but that isn't a concern for Green Day, the rock band that formed in the '80s and has evolved into a full-on media empire since.

Welcome to paradise, indeed.

Green Day's recent foray into the musical theater world, "American Idiot," has been picked up by Universal for the cinematic treatment, according to Deadline.

At the wheels of the project are Dustin Lance Black, creator of "Big Love" and Oscar-winner for his "Milk" screenplay, and original stage director Michael Mayer, who won a Tony for his work on "Spring Awakening" and directed the films "A Home at the End of the World" and "Flicka." The team looks to transfer the storyline and songs from the musical to their feature adaptation, much of which originally appeared on Green Day's 2004 album of the same name.

Universal is high on the movie musical business at the moment: in the wake of their "Mamma Mia!" success, the studio recently signed "King's Speech" director Tom Hooper to film a version of "Les Miserables" and a big screen version of the "Wizard of Oz" spin "Wicked" is waiting in the wings. On the flip side, Universal recently canned their adaptation of "In the Heights," a musical centering on a New York City Dominican-American neighborhood to be directed by "High School Musical"/"Newsies" director Kenny Ortega. Sure thing? Guess not.

That leaves the choice to bring "American Idiot" in an odd place. While the musical generated serious cash during its run ($34 million for 421 performances), producers for the show, which closes on Broadway on April 24, are unsure if it will make back its budget.

Whether a movie version of "American Idiot" moves forward could ultimately depend on the casting of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong as the drug dealer character St. Jimmy. Having a "face" in the cast could draw fans -- every time Armstrong performed briefly joined the stage version's cast, ticket sales went through the roof -- making the investment less risky for the studio. Unlike "Les Mis" or "Wicked," "American Idiot" lacks the widespread appeal and legacy of those shows, making "Hey, it's the Green Day musical!" the prime selling point for the film.

Universal will have to make a big decision in the upcoming months as it decides to take the leap with "American Idiot," but to them we say: just do it. Thinking first isn't punk.

(Originally published at 11 a.m. ET on April 13, 2011).