If you ever have a spare afternoon to kill in Nashville, you could do worse than to wander aimlessly into the Country Music Hall of Fame. While meandering around the Pink Cadillac owned by Elvis and videos of Wanda Jackson shaking her hips, you’ll check out the fascinating life story of Hank Williams. Somehow, this figure distilled both a tragically sweet personal life up against some of the best artistry in the genre, let alone the music world as a whole.
And now, according to Variety, the giant of country and western music is getting his own biopic.
Marc Abraham – one of the producer’s of Children of Men and the director of Flash of Genius – will be writing the project. His money quote here:
He was the first real star who went down as the result of his lifestyle, succeeded by Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain. He destroyed himself, but for six years leading to his death, Hank had six songs each year in the top 10.”
A solid insight, but even better is the note that Williams’s original recordings will most likely be used in the film.
It’s unclear how widely the film will screen since it’s being financed through Nashville production companies 821 and Strike Entertainment. Most likely, it’ll be limited, but there’s a solid chance that with the subject matter’s popularity, it could definitely play to a large distro audience. 821 is also working on the Roy Rogers biopic we reported on a while back.
Now…the fun begins as we figure out who should play Hank Williams. And daydreaming about how awesome the soundtrack will be.
What do you think? Who can step into those shoes? Who else that died before 30 should get his or her own biopic?
Related Topics: Biopics
