With Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” and Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “Bob Marley: One Love” dominating the box office, music-based biopics continue to be a hot commodity. Paramount Pictures, looking to add to the success of “One Love,” is now fast-tracking an untitled Bee Gees biopic.
One name is being bounced around to helm, and we’re kind of surprised. Ridley Scott (“Alien”) is in negotiations to direct.
This may seem like an odd project for the legendary director, but he has a strong connection to the group. When Scott was just starting out, Bee Gees’ manger Robert Stigwood had him working on the film “Castle Accident.” The movie is set during medieval times, and stars the band’s three brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb.
Ultimately the project fell apart, and Scott moved on to 1977’s “The Duelist.” So, almost 50 years later, he is just cycling back to the start of his career. We also did get to see the Bee Gees on the big screen in 1978’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
The director also recently wrapped production on his sequel to “Gladiator” (2000). Since Scott tends to move on to other projects rather quickly, it makes sense that the studio would want to move fast. Paramount secured the life and music rights from the Gibb family estate back in 2019. The script by John Logan (“They/Them”) is already completed.
Scott would be producing alongside Michael Pruss of Scott Free, Graham King under his GK Films banner, and Stacey Snider. Paramount would handle worldwide distribution, with Amblin and Sister co-financing. Band member Barry Gibb is attached to executive produce.
Bee Gees began their music career in the 1950s, but didn’t achieve mainstream success until they did songs for 1977’s “Saturday Night Fever.” They soon became one of the time selling artists of the decade, nabbing five Grammy’s, including Album of the Year.
But what goes up must come down, and when disco became passe so did the Bee Gees. Band member Maurice Gibb passed away in January 2003, causing Barry and Robin to retire the group’s name. Though they eventually reformed in 2009, unfortunately, Robin passed just a year later. There is no word on which part of the band’s decades-long career will be the focus of the film.
We’ll keep you posted on updates about this untitled Bee Gees biopic as they become available. Scott’s film “Gladiator 2” string Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Pedro Pascal will hit theaters on November 22nd.
