July 24, 2008 16:08

Flaming Lips say Christmas film almost done

Band want to release wacky flick before a new record

The Flaming Lips have nearly finished making their movie, 'Christmas On Mars', after seven years in the making.

The film is set at Christmas Eve in a space station on Mars and features lead singer Wayne Coyne dressed up as an alien.

He explained: "There's a baby being born on the space station and it happens to be on Christmas Eve. My character is this alien super being who shows up in a giant spherical ship. And I'm green."

The group started the home video style film back in 2001, and as well as providing music for the motion picture, most of the sets were built in Coyne's house.

He explained: "We really just started as a weird home movie, my wife's in it, my brother's in it, two of my nephews are in it and friends who were around at the time. And then it became bigger and more of an art film, so it took on more of an epic quality - but it still feels like a home movie."

Although the band haven't released an album in two years Coyne told Newsbeat.co.uk they'll get the film out before they start work on a new record.

He said: "We'll probably go into the studio in February until the start of next summer and if it's great, we'll put it out."