Why they even are doing this I do not know. But a BIOPIC centering on Billy Joel's rise to be the "Piano Man" is being done without him giving any blessing or rights to music or use of his name even. They are saying they want to focus on his prior days when he was with the band "The Hassles" prior to going solo etc...sorry but this is useless. I know HOLLYWOOD loves to try and Milk ideas, but the BIOPICS need to go already, you struck gold with Queen, though we know tons of that story was incorrect, ROCKETMAN I cringe on that one too, even back in the day with SELENA that had serious flaws and was not all correct, you cant DO everyones life on the big screen. Not saying Billy Joel is not an interesting guy, I mean all the issues of the managers ripping him off, marriages etc...but some dont want that on a screen or getting a fabricated screen version. Joel to me seems content with you know what you know and If I want to tell you more I will.

https://ew.com/movies/pia...el-biopic/

a biopic that doesn't have the artists' music is pointless.Why even bother?

SoulAlive said:

a biopic that doesn't have the artists' music is pointless.Why even bother?

I don't get why they are trying to do it and covering an era when he wasn't even known and even the drama of his days prior to first and second album were somewhat extensive he's not giving you license to his name. Also Billy is not biopic type guy, I get why they did Elton and queen and others but billy is not some flamboyant rock star, he's pretty bare bones bar band type guy, straight forward rocker, I mean outside of the managers and the marriages where can you go? Now a documentary is what they should be doing on all these artists, I got way more from the queen documentaries then a movie that was half wrong, and the same with Elton.

SolaceAHA said:

Now a documentary is what they should be doing on all these artists, I got way more from the queen documentaries then a movie that was half wrong, and the same with Elton.

If you want to make big money at the box office, I don't think a documentary is the way to do that. Which one made more money - Straight Outta Compton or Summer Of Soul? A documentary might be played at a film festival, where the general public will not see it. It's also unlikely to be at the multiplex, it may be at an art film theater. The general public is more likely to go to a theater to watch a biopic. I think people watch biopics for entertainment, not a history lesson. A documentary is not necessarily more accurate anyway, it can be pro-subject or anti-subject (ig. the one Martin Bashir did on Michael Jackson). It's like a celebrity can write an autobiography and leave out the bad parts to make him/herself look good or they can write a tell all with gossip & dirt.

MickyDolenz said:

SolaceAHA said:

Now a documentary is what they should be doing on all these artists, I got way more from the queen documentaries then a movie that was half wrong, and the same with Elton.

If you want to make big money at the box office, I don't think a documentary is the way to do that. Which one made more money - Straight Outta Compton or Summer Of Soul? A documentary might be played at a film festival, where the general public will not see it. It's also unlikely to be at the multiplex, it may be at an art film theater. The general public is more likely to go to a theater to watch a biopic. I think people watch biopics for entertainment, not a history lesson. A documentary is not necessarily more accurate anyway, it can be pro-subject or anti-subject (ig. the one Martin Bashir did on Michael Jackson). It's like a celebrity can write an autobiography and leave out the bad parts to make him/herself look good or they can write a tell all with gossip & dirt.

The thing is Billy Joel is set, he hasnt recorded a new album in 30 years he is one of the few performers who actually stuck to his word when he said "Im done with recording pop/rock records". With Documentaries if you are going to use any "jackson" as a reference of "Truth" thats not reality in that family. When I speak of documenataries you have to have the right people doing and you have to have FULL access to the artist(s), if you dont then you might as well make a biopic. The Queen biopic made a ton of money because Queen has become bigger in AMERICA than it really ever was after Freddie died, Queen is huge all over the world prior to America getting back on board. But the Biopic was wrong in many ways even the band says it and thats why you had people quit on it too early on and it took years to make. Yes it sold because it was a cheesy hollywood sugar coating gloissed over version of the life of the band. Recently the band a-ha had a movie made about them that has won tons of awards all over the world, and its straight documentary tons of footage never seen this is what fans of artists want, but one quote from a band member about the documentary said "If we are all satisfied with the depiction of us then you didnt make a true film" and thats it, they turned over access to EVERything, warts and all, from footage from the later 70's when they met till present day, thats how you make a good documentary. Tons of good ones have been made, Mystify based on the life of Michael Hutchence, the David Bowie Five Years doc on his last five years, the Tina turner doc that was done a year or so ago, an award winning one on singer activist Harry Chapin, all top notch documentaries and to be honest a DOC wont move a general public the same way reissuing an Old Prince album is not going to get some teenager listening to Prince now or buying him. Documenatries are NOT made to make money, they are made to be a proper accounting of a life, now you can do it right very easily by doing ONE ON an artist that has no issues with giving you everything, I mean if you make a DOC and the artist doesnt want to give music rights then dont make the film take the hint. As far as anything JACKSON family, I mean honestly truth and jackson family dont go hand in hand, you get what they want out there and I get that, thats why I would never sit through on MJ or the family. With Prince I hope they dont push this BIOPIC because with the amount of people that have quit on it, thats a sign. He needs a proper documentary on those days and NO lets realize already you are not going to get "the scoop" on his death, was there a drug problem etc....you pretty much know that someone as guarded as PRINCE was, its probably best to not have any films done on him.

[Edited 3/13/22 18:51pm]

^^There's a biopic called Nowhere Boy, which is about teenaged John Lennon. Backbeat is about the Stuart Sutcliffe & Pete Best days of The Beatles. As such, neither didn't need any Beatles music, since it didn't exist during the years these movies take place.