Before the showing of *Bohemian Rhapsody * that I went to, they showed a trailer for an Elton John movie called Rocketman. I didn’t know the world needed an Elton movie.
What other vintage bands need movies about them? And what should the movies focus on? Who had an interesting enough story to make a movie?
I vote for Reaper Man, the story of Blue Öyster Cult. It is all about the making of Don’t Fear the Reaper. It could be an intense movie, because the life of a reaper man is always intense.
Saturday Night Live already did the definitive documentary about the making of Don’t Fear the Reaper.
Well, he was arguably the biggest / most popular rock performer in the first half of the 1970s, and he was tremendously prolific during that time – he released eleven original albums from 1970-1975, the last six of which all hit #1 in the U.S.
Beyond that, he became a gay icon, in an era in which homosexuality was still generally seen as deviant behavior. I think that his life story (particularly if there’s sufficient focus on the beginning of his career) could be very compelling.
I was joking about Elton, but I’d go the other way. There’s too much in Elton’s life for one movie. In two hours you could barely start to touch on what made him what he was, let alone what he’s become since the heights in the 70s and 80s.
And while SNL did a “definitive” version of DFtR, it Hollywoodized it by introducing composite characters. It took too many liberties with the facts.
Totally agreed. My suspicion is that this film is going to focus on his early life, and the height of his career in the '70s. Otherwise, as you say, there’s just too much.
How about something on Fleetwood Mac? Seems there must be some pretty good drama to be mined out of relatonships between the various band members.
The title could be “Rumours” or “Landslide”.
It has occurred to me that, even though they picked “Bohemian Rhapsody” as the title of the Queen/Mercury biopic, there are at least half a dozen other Queen songs that also would have worked as the movie title.
I think something similar would also be true for Fleetwood Mac.
That’s true.
Many of the candidates will have already been on Behind The Music, like Lynyrd Skynyrd (pioneered a whole sub-genre, died in a plane crash), or Badfinger (probably one of the most depressing set of stories in rock history).
A movie about Marvin Gaye from when his music becomes socially conscious until his murder. Titled “What’s Going On”
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Good ideas here!
A movie about Heart. Call it Crazy on You. Or Dreamboat Annie. Use the Wilson’s book “Kicking and Dreaming”. Which, come to think of it, would be a fine title.
Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson or maybe a film just on their time together…
Nah. Well get treated to a movie about KISS. Gene is probably making the deal as we speak. Erk!
I say Elton’s fine biopic material. At his peak he was larger-than-life enough.
Heck, have the whole movie be built around the making of* Rumours*.
That would be good, seriously.
Maybe just to be pricks they’ll center the narrative around Ace, making the whole thing utterly incomprehensible but good for a nervous laugh. Or do it about the early/mid 80s decision to ditch the makeup and costumes.
They’ve already made The Buddy Holly Story and La Bamba. So we just need a studio to make Chantilly Lace: The Life and Death of the Big Bopper to complete the plane crash trilogy.
The Dark Side of Pink Floyd.
A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request: The Steve Goodman Story
I want to see a movie about Ellen Foley, with emphasis on her relationship with Mick Jones (of The Clash) and her work with Meat Loaf.
I remember a local deejay saying that someone should make a biopic about Rush (and this was over 30 years ago). It could be called “The Three Musketeers” and Geddy Lee would be D’Artagnan.