From Bob Dylan's 'A Complete Unknown' to Springsteen's 'Deliver Me From Nowhere', trend for big-screen music biopics

While great musical acts have always been a source of inspiration for the movie world, the trend for music biopics has gathered pace in recent years and shows no signs of slowing

By AFPRelaxnews

Published: Nov 22, 2024 11:13:42 AM IST

Updated: Nov 22, 2024 11:14:19 AM IST

Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan and the Beatles will soon have their own big-screen biopics, and they're not the only artists being celebrated on the big screen. While great musical acts have always been a source of inspiration for the movie world, the trend for music biopics has gathered pace in recent years and shows no signs of slowing.

Timothée Chalamet dons Bob Dylan's signature leather jacket in a biopic due in US theaters on December 25. In "A Complete Unknown," the young star takes on the role of the 1960s musician. Viewers will be able to follow his rise, from his arrival in New York (from Minnesota) to becoming an emblematic figure of that decade, and of the folk scene, not to mention his musical turning point. James Mangold is at the helm of this feature film, 20 years after directing "Walk The Line," the biopic devoted to Johnny Cash, with Joaquin Phoenix in the singer's role.

On January 17, meanwhile, audiences will be able to relive the career of Robbie Williams on the big screen with the movie, "Better Man." This biopic will feature the British singer as a monkey. The former member of the Take That boy band also lends his voice to the production. He also narrates the trailer for this Michael Gracey movie ("The Greatest Showman").

In a different vein, Pablo Larrain's biopic "Maria," about the opera singer Maria Callas, will be released in select theaters on November 27 and on Netflix December 11 in the US. The Chilean director has focused on the artist's last days, spent in Paris in 1977. The film closes his trilogy devoted to three great women of the 20th century. After Nathalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy and Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, Angelina Jolie has been chosen to play the famous Greek singer.

Michael Jackson fans will have to wait until October 2025 to discover the biopic about the King of Pop, directed by Antoine Fuqua. The movie, which promises to retrace the life of the world-famous singer through his successes and scandals, stars Jaafar Jackson, the artist's nephew, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the singer. Queen of Pop Madonna is also due to get a feature film about her life, under her own direction. After many twists and turns, the “Like a Virgin” singer shared an update about her project on Instagram, suggesting that it is still somewhere in the pipeline.

The Bee Gees, The Beatles, Britney Spears

And the list of upcoming biopics is still long. "Deliver Me From Nowhere," a movie about Bruce Springsteen, is due in 2025, starring Jeremy Allen White of TV show "The Bear." Ridley Scott is said to be working on a Bee Gees biopic, while Sam Mendes will tackle the Beatles, taking the unusual gamble of making four films, one for each member of the Liverpool quartet, slated for release in 2027. Selena Gomez will play the singer Linda Ronstadt, under the direction of David O. Russell ("Silver Linings Playbook"), while Shailene Woodley, star of the "Divergent" saga, will take on the role of Janis Joplin in a biopic that's due to start filming soon. A movie on the life of Britney Spears is also in development, based on the singer's memoirs, and Millie Bobby Brown of “Stranger Things” is being considered for the role of the "Baby One More Time" singer.

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So, it seems like moviegoers can expect a deluge of music biopics in the months and years to come. The latest such project was announced in mid-December and concerns the famous 1990s band, Boyz II Men. And there's no denying that this kind of movie is often a sure bet at the box office, as was the case with “Bohemian Rhapsody,” starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, the charismatic frontman of the band Queen. And that's not to mention "Rocketman,” about the life of Elton John, "I'm Not There," about Bob Dylan, "8 Mile" with Eminem, "La Vie en Rose" about Edith Piaf, "Ray" about Ray Charles and "Tina" about Tina Turner. Indeed, the list of successful biopics about musical artists is long.

Audiences appear to be particularly fond of this kind of story, which looks back at the extraordinary life of someone who didn't necessarily start out as one of life's winners. According to UCLA's Teens & Screens report, young viewers especially like this kind of success story, with teens wanting to see "hopeful, uplifting content with people 'beating the odds.'"