keith moon movie project

Myers was fairly good as Steve Rubell in "54," I thought, so he's shown the acting chops for serious roles. But yeah, him in a Keith Moon wig with a British accent seems a little too close to Austin Powers territory ...

 

He was OK in a pretty small role.

 

In fairness, he's used the exact same Scottish brogue for three different characters in three different movies - the dad in "So I Married an Axe Murderer," Fat Bastard in the "Austin Powers" series and Shrek in "Shrek" - so why not?

What I don't understand is why the film hasn't been made already if Myers really wants to do it. He has more than enough coin to be able to fund it himself as a labour of love, if nothing else. Generally it's money that stands in the way of a project getting off the ground, but that doesn't have to be the issue here.

 

Maybe he doesn't feel like pissing away $40 million of his own money.

These bio pics aren't exactly known for bringing the box office.

 

True. For every "Ray" or "Walk the Line," there's a dozen straight to video/cable biopics made every year.

One thing those two had going for them was that Charles and Cash had died fairly recently when they were released --- and they were also world-famous solo artists. Moon's been dead for 30 years and was more infamous than famous during his life.

I think if you made a film about the late 60s/early 70s hard rock/metal scene and rolled the deaths of Moon, Bonham, Bon Scott, Marc Bolen and Phil Lynott into it, you might have something.

 

Okay, but who says a film about Moon - a film about anyone, really - has to cost $40 million?

If Myers decided to forego a big salary and kept production costs fairly low, it could likely get made for between $10 million and $20 million. I know, it's a big "if," but who knows?

It's also possible that artistic grants may be available somewhere to help fund the production.

 

How many studio movies these days are made for less than $40 million?

The Hangover... Probably most horror films. Not much else...

I know he'd never get his regular asking price for a movie like this one, but casting Myers typically would cost at least $15 mil.

 

Just off the top of my head, "Juno" cost something like $6.5 million to make. That included the salaries of Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman, among others.

 

Just the fact that it would have to be a period piece (cars, equipment, clothes, etc.) would bring it to $40M.

 

The fact that Myers is already fifteen years older than Moon was when he died kind of makes this ridiculous.

 

And who knows if Townsend (or whoever owns them) would sell the rights to the music cheap? (If Daltrey has a piece, forget about selling cheap.)

 

I pulled $40 million out because that's how much it cost to make "Ray"

I just found out Walk the Line only cost $28 million to make, so I guess they can do it cheaper. Since Witherspoon is the highest-paid actress working, I'm guessing she worked for scale.