Hollywood loves their musicians, but they love their dead musicians even more. Johnny Cash, Elvis and Dewey Cox have all been the subject of some great films, but one legendary member of club 28 that hasn’t had much silver screen exposure was Jimi Hendrix.
Even though his estate is more than keen to re-release and profit off of his work every year, they’ve been quite hesitant to give out any film rights for a biopic.
Andre Benjamin has been pursuing said film rights for years now, as he’s been eager to portray the legendary guitarist, but other than that, it appears that any work on a film has been put on cold ice.
However, new reports paint a different picture, as it seems that the project is well on the way to being finally, and fully, realised.
Rolling Stone has revealed that All is by my side is currently almost finsihed with preproduction work, with principal filming set to commence soon, in Ireland.
John “Three Kings” Ridley has a script ready, and is looking to direct, while Richard “Donnie Darko” Kelly is gearing up to help produce. The film will apparently follow the usual dead artist route, following Hendrix from his discovery and rise to the top in 1966-67, as well as the recording of his debut album Are you experienced.
Andre “3000” Benjamin is confirmed to act as the master burner of guitars, while the rest of the cast has yet to be finalised. Sounds like a promising start so far to the film, provided that it doesn’t happen to be a sugar-coated take on the axe master.
Last Updated: May 9, 2012