Cameron Crowe garnered great commercial success with JERRY MAGUIRE, and crafted a film-enthusiast favorite in ALMOST FAMOUS. Since then, his career has arguably wavered. Not everyone was down with his remake of ABRE LOS OJOS, VANILLA SKY (my personal favorite). ELIZABETHTOWN and WE BOUGHT A ZOO were far from high points, even if there were elements in both that couldn’t be found elsewhere (namely great soundtracks). With a still untitled romantic comedy starring Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone to be released later this year, we now have word that Cameron Crowe will be back in the director’s chair before the year’s end, but for the small screen.
Roadies will be exactly that, taking place during a U.S. rock tour. Given that Crowe worked for Rolling Stone magazine back in the 70s (his obvious basis for ALMOST FAMOUS), I’m sure he has a wealth of material and love for the subject matter. Couple that with the fact that if the show is given the greenlight, Winnie Holzman (creator of My So-Called Life) will head up the show. Couldn’t ask for a better partner, if you want my opinion (and incidentally, she played one of the ladies in the woman’s group in JERRY MAGUIRE). Considering that the series would be on Showtime, that you pretty much takes care of any limitations (primarily language) that might crop up on other networks. Crowe has spent too much time away from the camera, so I look a series may be a great change of pace for the man.
Cameron Crowe is set to shoot the pilot for Roadies sometime later this year.