Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

Even though I realise that the musician biopic is a cinematic sub-genre that is more often than not extremely limited by formulaic conventions and the apparent need for the rights holders to keep the subject's music profitable, I figure this is a good topic for a thread (especially if you can come up with a more interesting angle than the standard rise-fall-rise narrative.

I'll start...

The Shaggs - an all-girl pop band from the '60s whose album Philosophy of the World is often considered one of the worst albums ever made. Add in the incredibly bizarre backstory (the band's members are sisters whose father pulled them out of school to start the band based on the prediction of a fortune teller) and various other weird happenings and you could very well have the Ed Wood of music movies that doesn't settle for cheap irony but instead finds the humanity behind one of music's best curiosities.

The Fall - the English post-punk outfit that is arguably best-known for having a revolving door of personnel accompanying frontman Mark E. Smith (Wikipedia cites 66 different band members over the course of the band's 42-year history). I think the only way to do right by such an unconventional band is to do an I'm Not There-style avant-garde biopic where it's a feature-length concert but the band members constantly change around Smith and he gradually ages throughout the performance (also very Lovecraftian). Also, pull a 24 Hour Party People/Control reference by casting Sam Riley as Smith.

Ol' Dirty Bastard - I've heard that this one might actually be happening, but it goes without saying that he would definitely prove an interesting subject.

Interesting topic. For me, it depends on how it would be made. I would really like to see something like 8 Mile, especially because it doesn’t show the success part, only the journey.*

My top pick would be Jackson C. Frank. I discovered his music after watching Marcy, May, Marlene (2011). There’s something mystical about his fairly short life and career (a bit like what you’re saying about The Shaggs). He only released one eponymous album in 1965 and his entire adulthood was shaped by the furnace explosion at his school when he was 11. The fire crippled him for life and killed most of his classmates, as well as the girl named ‘Marlene’, whom he references throughout the album and calls his first love. I think that kind of life story merits a mystical take on the biopic, not the rise-and-fall narrative, but rather a reflection on how some very talented people cannot overcome their limitations/circumstances, contrary to what Hollywood would have us believe.

Curious to see what others think.

Re: Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

Not strictly a musician/group, but I think a story centered around Anita Pallenberg could be really good, even if only in a Forrest Gumpy "effect on music history" kind of way.

I think the Stones would make a helluva biopic.

I've not heard of any of those bands, but after reading your idea pitch on those, I have to say I'm intrigued...especially by The Shaggs film idea.

Re: Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

Good idea, and
Rami Malek would make a perfect Mick Jagger and a cool marketing ploy too.

Mslek would make a great Mick Jagger

Re: Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

Some more...

Death - not the more well-known death metal group of the same name, but the short-lived punk band started by three African-American brothers in early-'70s Detroit that refused to compromise with record companies by changing their name and didn't see much success as a result, eventually disbanding and moving on before reforming after their originally-discarded music was rediscovered. I already saw the documentaryA Band Called Death and thought it was fine but it's also a bit of a dry watch that might well be improved by some dramatisation.

While I have yet to finish reading Our Band Could Be Your Life, I vividly remember reading the Black Flag chapter and, combined with Henry Rollins' Get in the Van, would make for an interesting story. Then again, punk biopics seem like a contradiction in terms since they definitely exemplify the art-versus-commerce problem at the heart of music biopics.

Also, if they can make a fake Ripper Owens movie with Rock Star then they can do a proper Judas Priest movie about Rob Halford (even if it is liable to end up following the standard rise-fall-rise narrative in accordance with Halford leaving the group and coming out as gay before rejoining the group). Not really a whole lot of metal biopics out there, after all - surely there's nowhere to go but up after The Dirt.

Re: Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

I wanna a see a Black Metal band put on screen. I think there is one movie out there from Norway. But need to see more.

Re: Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

If it's a personal choice then I can think of a lot of bands I'd like to see a bio-pic about. But if I was a producer bank rolling the movie I'd want a band or performer with big name recognition...like Queen or Michael Jackson. Probably the Stones fits that bill best of all. But for some reason I can see a bio-pic about INXS being popular, it would certainly end dramatically.

Re: Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

50 cents
the guy was shot, then he declare bankrupt, he was an icon of the 2000s you have drug, sex, hiphop, violence everything

Re: Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

Les Rallizes Dénudés

Re: Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

To address the last few posts...

There was a black metal biopic about Mayhem recently called Lords of Chaos that ultimately centred around Euronymous' murder. It's somewhere on my watchlist, but the reviews I've seen haven't been terribly favourable. It really does seem to be a curiosity at this point.

There was a free-to-air miniseries about INXS called Never Tear Us Apart on Australian TV a few years back. I watched it and found it pretty decent as far as these kinds of things go - maybe the story could be whittled down a bit further to a single film but the series seemed adequate enough.

Also, didn't 50 Cent already get his own movie with Get Rich or Die Tryin' or does that not really count because he was playing himself?

(also I wondered what Minio could possibly pick and he did not disappoint)

Have you watched, Until the Light Takes Us?

it kind of count but you dont have the best part where he declare bankrupt

Yeah... That is the only one I have seen. But I guess that doesn't qualify for this thread, since it's a documentary. I would like to see something similar put on a movie.

Rap, R&B, Hip-Hop, Pop, Country just doesn't cut the mustard for me. It's mostly crap! Black Sabbath to Metallica to Slayer for me. And the occasional Bach, Mozart etc thrown in.

Re: Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

Rob Zombie. We need to see what made him into the chad he is today.

Metallica would be a great film if done correctly. They were kinda underdogs or at least outcasts from the 80's metal scene, dealt with the death of a band member, rose into the mainstream, almost broke up, got wrapped up in Napster controversy, and are still pushed on as one of the biggest bands even in their older age. A great three-act story could be told there.

Re: Bands/musicians you would like to see get a biopic
 

Metallica, I don't know why they get all the hate. Yeah, they did some not-so-nice things. But as musicians there is no question about their talent. Well maybe it's just Lars. The other the three are just sooo good. Their career is so long... It might be a scriptwriter would have to pick just one part of their career. Showing the whole thing would be a 7-8 hour long movie.

dang, the shaggs biopic could be a tremendous one, if there is. better than the beatles.

is united red army a prequel?