Mike Fleming is reporting that the estate of late rocker
Jimi Hendrix has turned down a promising pitch for a
Paul Greengrass directed biopic of the American Icon that would have starred Hurt Locker actor
Anthony Mackie in the title role. The rejected package, which included financial clout from Legendary Pictures and a commitment from the talent to film next year, was turned down because the family estate feared a high-profile film might hurt back catalogue sales. (If you believe that, you'll believe anything). The movie is the latest in a long line of potential Hendrix biopics (
Will Smith &
Eddie Murphy have previously tried, among others) that have been snuffed out by Experience Hendrix, an estate that heavily protects the singer's memory and the four influential albums he made in his short but productive 27 years of life. It's said Legendary Pictures chief
Thomas Tull, a huge music fan who funded the critically acclaimed doc
It Might Get Loud featuring Led Zepplin and U2,
was confident enough that his pitch would win out. He took a financial gamble on hiring Black Listed writer
Max Borenstein to put together a screenplay, convinced respected director Paul Greengrass that this was to be his post-Bourne movie and attached an actor with real buzz in Mackie to commit and in putting together the best package they could before going to the Hendrix estate... but it was all in vain in the end. It was all kind of like the recent England 2018 World Cup bid. All that effort of getting the best talent on board and for what? To be given the same answer they would have gotten if they had simply done a five minute speculative pitch. A firm NO!
Janie Hendrix, the adopted daughter of Jimi Hendrix's father and who runs Experience Hendrix, said in a statement;
Legendary proceeded without our permission, direction or involvement. It didnt fall apart, it never was. When we do the Jimi Hendrix feature film bio we will be involved and in control from the beginning,
Producer
Bob Gerger, who sounds bitterly disappointed the film has broken down countered Janie's statement;
"To say we proceeded without permission isn't fair. Thomas Tull couldn't have been more generous and eager to collaborate with the estate. He was ready go finance their version of Jimi's story, he got a script that made The Black List and brought Paul Greengrass to the party. It boggles the mind."
Deadline say Greengrass' Hendrix movie could have been made anyway as the estate doesn't own the rights to such notable tunes as
All Along The Watchtower and
Wild Thing which were written by others but Hendrix so memorably performed, and in theory the copyrighted hits
Purple Haze,
Foxy Lady and
Voodoo Child could be ignored by a film... but Tull really wanted the full backing of the estate to make the studio quality biopic he so desperately craves. As Mike Fleming says at Deadline, with the intention and the caliber of talent on board here and the recent track record of how well music biopics have done in Hollywood (we've certainly come a long way since
Oliver Stone's The Doors which is rumoured to be one of the reasons this pitch was turned down), it's truly mystifying why Janie Hendrix would reject such a promising pitch because surely even a bad film would help sales because the music remains so strong? Clearly there's something in Hendrix's life, whether it be his substance abuse problems or his sexual escapdes that concerns them about a Hendrix movie being made. That's the bottom line here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lVU2NRCIQk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoAXW30mMAg