"The musical biopic is a dead genre and has been ever since artists and/or their estates realized how lucrative a sanitized life story of Michael Jackson/Freddie Mercury/Bob Dylan could be. None of these artists... will ever license their music to an unauthorized biopic."
"That's how you end up with Michael, which is essentially propaganda for a credibly accused child sex offender, grossing a bazillion dollars. They were never gonna let, like, Todd Haynes make that movie."
"The best musical biopic of the past few years was the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis, because it's the story of an entirely fictional person. Also, the basic log line of Davis, 'What if Bob Dylan never amounted to anything?' is a far more appealing one."
"Ezra Edelman... finished a definitive documentary on Prince that included previously unseen footage and stories... But when Prince's estate found out that the doc included stories of Prince being truly awful to people, they shut it down."
The musical biopic genre has declined as artists and their estates prefer lucrative, sanitized portrayals over authentic narratives. Unauthorized biopics struggle to secure music rights, leading to a choice between genuine stories and popular tunes. The film 'Michael' exemplifies this trend, presenting a sanitized view of a controversial figure. In contrast, the Coen brothers' 'Inside Llewyn Davis' succeeds as a fictional narrative. Additionally, a definitive documentary on Prince was halted by his estate due to unflattering content, further illustrating the challenges of creating honest musical documentaries.
Read at Defector
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]