The band (pronounced "in excess"), whose multiplatinum heyday was the 1980s and early 1990s, enjoyed hits with "Kick," "Suicide Blonde," "Never Tear Us Apart," "New Sensation," "Shabooh Shoobah," "Don't Change," "By My Side," and it only #1 hit, "Need You Tonight."

The New York Post reported that band manager Chris Murphy is in talks with an unnamed director to take on the project. Commenting on the band's diversity, Murphy was quoted as saying, "A lot of bands have a sound, and they just keep to it . . . It’s monotone. The depth of [INXS’] catalog is quite unique.”

No theatre, dates, producer, casting or title were mentioned in the report, and the band reportedly is trying to decide whether the songs would be used to tell an original story, like Mamma Mia!, or chronicle the band, as in Jersey Boys.

Billboard.com quoted Murphy as saying, "We’re developing two different scenarios, one of which is very closely related to the band’s story. The other is a separate story altogether,” he says. “We’ll choose the one that works best for the audience — not what works best for the band or their egos.” Murphy declines to name who he is working with but describes them as “top-of-their-game guys” and adds that he is pushing to get the musical mounted in 2017. The band has struggled since the 1997 suicide death of lead singer Michael Hutchence.