Okay, prepare yourself for a terrible lede: after going into the cold for “The Revenant,” it looks like Leonardo DiCaprio is ready for a little bit of sun….Sun Records, that is (sorry, it’s Friday, I’m tired). The actor is going to get a little bit rock ‘n roll in an upcoming biopic.
Paramount Pictures has snapped up the rights to Peter Guralnick‘s acclaimed book “Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘N’ Roll.” As the title makes clear, it’s about the man who founded Sun Records, and put hugely influential artists like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins, and many, many more to wax. And in addition to DiCaprio, the movie is coming packaged with some big shot producers including The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and kazillionaire Steve Bing.
And while the everyone is moving fast to get a screenwriter and director attached, let’s just throw up the flag of caution that we always do with music movies: wait and see. Music rights are always a complicated issue, no matter who the talent is that’s attached, not to mention that various estates of the artists that may be portrayed always like to have a say in how the artist is portrayed (there’s big money at stake beyond the film). It’s why we’re yet to see a proper Jimi Hendrix biopic, for example. So, it’s an intriguing prospect, but we’ll reserve our excitement just a bit until it looks like cameras will actually roll. [Deadline]