So suddenly everybody's saying that Robert Pattinson (sigh) and James Franco (maybe) are "battling it out" for the role of one of my very favorite musicians Jeff Buckley in the long-delayed bio-pic. I had to do some scouring to find out where this information originally came from - I saw it first at JJ but he didn't offer any source to back it up - but eventually I worked my way through the links to find this story at DigitalSpy (not the most reliable source themselves) which gave up where the story began.
We'll see what comes of this. I'm still not sold on Pattinson (although to be fair I've only seen him as Cedric Diggory, and he was fine there) and he doesn't really feel like he's got the look right for Jeff... Franco could maybe do it but he's playing a few too many sensitive poet types these days, isn't he? I guess he evens it out with all the stoner roles though. I'm not sure who I would cast anymore. You can click on Jeff's label at the bottom of this post to see how I've been following this movie's progress forever and ever now... it really would be great to have his wonderful music pushed back into the cultural forefront again even if only for a bit. Something besides his damned cover of "Hallelujah" at least! God I love that song but will be happy if I never hear it again in my entire life.
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"Robert Pattinson and James Franco are among the stars eager to play Jeff Buckley in the proposed biopic of the late singer-songwriter.
According to a report in Australia's Courier-Mail newspaper, producers Michelle Sy (Finding Neverland) and Orion Williams (Control) are overseeing the project with Buckley's mother Mary Guibert. Ryane Jeffe has been commissioned to write the movie, which is also attracting interest from Jared Leto and James Marsden.
Guibert revealed that the actor portraying her son, who drowned tragically in 1997, will have to sing and play his own instruments for the role.
"Whoever gets the part will need a lot of self-discipline because they won't be able to fake it," she said. "It's going to take a phenomenal set of skills."
Brad Pitt had previously attempted to make a film about Buckley's life, but the project fell apart when Guibert rejected two script drafts from British writer Emma Forrest.
Buckley experienced a surge in popularity last year when his version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' made it to number two on the UK charts at the time of X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's release of the same track."
We'll see what comes of this. I'm still not sold on Pattinson (although to be fair I've only seen him as Cedric Diggory, and he was fine there) and he doesn't really feel like he's got the look right for Jeff... Franco could maybe do it but he's playing a few too many sensitive poet types these days, isn't he? I guess he evens it out with all the stoner roles though. I'm not sure who I would cast anymore. You can click on Jeff's label at the bottom of this post to see how I've been following this movie's progress forever and ever now... it really would be great to have his wonderful music pushed back into the cultural forefront again even if only for a bit. Something besides his damned cover of "Hallelujah" at least! God I love that song but will be happy if I never hear it again in my entire life.
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8 comments:
James Marsden. James Marsden. James Marsden!!!
Oh I am ALL OVER RPattz in this role. I am quite the Jeff Buckley fan and I think Rob could nail this. He's got a VERY nice singing voice (if you can bear to check out the Twilight soundtrack he's got 2 songs on there that he performs). I can see it.
a singer's POV on this,
plus: sound examples of them both for you to judge:
http://bettimusictwilight.blogspot.com/2009/06/rob-pattinson-jeff-buckley.html
I'm a huge Jeff Buckley fan, had the lucky chance to cross paths with him years ago but I don't want to see a film about his life. I'm not sure why but I feel like he was just so very unique that I don't know if any actor could do him justice.
More gay roles for Franco, yay. Bring it on! Soon they'll create a special category for him at the Oscars...
Marsden's already 36 - given that Jeff died at age 30, he's probably too old.
I think Franco's the better actor but RPatz has the whole tortured artist thing down cold. Plus, Twilight = money, so this movie would get some serious studio backing.
I've crossed paths with Buckley and Franco and I just can't see it.Franco just seems too masculine but Pattinson would really be Horrid to me.
I think this is the right role for Jamie Bell, I saw his image with Buckley's photo on Wikipedia and they look very similar. Plus: Jamie Bell has a good voice for singing
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