Music biopics are all the rage lately. There has been a slew of awards and recognitions that come with these movies, as displayed by Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman. Recently, there was a satirical send-up of the genre with the completely over-the-top, fictional depiction of parody music artist Weird Al Yankovic’s life with the Roku Channel’s Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. One such story for an upcoming planned film is the biopic for the hit 70s disco group, The Bee Gees.
Deadline has recently learned that the former director tapped to helm the film, John Carney, had stepped down, and the director of 2019’s Hustlers, Lorene Scafaria, will now be sitting in the director’s chair. The script has been written by Academy Award-nominated writer John Logan. The movie is produced by Graham King, producer of Bohemian Rhapsody, along with Amblin Entertainment with Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider, and Jane Featherstone, producing via Sister.
Band member Barry Gibb will be heavily involved with the project as an executive producer after also being involved with the documentary, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart about the Gibb siblings.
The popular group of the 70s has the reputation of being one of the biggest-selling musical groups of all time, with a career of 220 million records sold. After a stint in the 50s and 60s as a folk group, the band soared to major success following their inclusion in the soundtrack for the gritty dance movie Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta. That soundtrack became one of the best-selling albums of all time and garnered five Grammy wins, including Album of the Year. The group was instrumental in the genre of disco taking over pop culture.
Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers became the highest-grossing live-action stateside film for star Jennifer Lopez taking in $105 million and her highest opening with $33 million.