In an agreement with Legendary Pictures, Jimi Hendrix's estate closed a deal for an official biopic detailing the life and capturing the passion of the guitar legend. Paul Greengrass of United 93 and Captain Phillips is in talks to direct the film with a script penned by Scott Silver.
Unlike the others previously created, this biopic will incorporate music from Hendrix's estate notes Deadline. Four years ago, Greengrass approached Experience Hendrix alongside Legendary's Thomas Tull with a script helmed by Max Borenstein. Unable to come to agreements, plans fell through after fears that a film would damage sales. Tull recently jumped on board to craft 42, a biopic on the struggles and successes of Jackie Robinson.
With the former project unraveled, room was created for John Ridley's Jimi: All is By My Side, unauthorized biopic starring Outkast's Andre Benjamin. Ridley focused largely on Hendrix's life before his fame took the world by storm...clever way to work around the lack of recordings. The void of musical connection with Hendrix staples such as "Purple Haze," "Foxy Lady" and "Bold as Love," resulted in an unsatisfactory total of $323,000 reports Rolling Stone. The biopic will be produced by Tull, Jon Jashni, Janie Hendrix, John McDermott, Peter Afterman and executive producers Jillian Share and Josh Bratman.
The 27-year-old's life was cut short during the peak of his fame in 1970. Access to the singer's discography already gives the newest biopic an advantage over all previously flopped films. Hendrix recorded a total of four studio LPs...three with the Jimi Hendrix Experience and one live set with Band of Gypsys. Casting decisions haven't been made final just yet, but rumors circulated around Anthony Mackie who recently took on the role of the Falcon for Marvel.
