Bob marley
Why has no one ever considered making a movie of Bob Marley ?
–J. Quin
They have. Back when I was a terrified assistant at Oliver Stone’s production company, one of the executives was negotiating for the rights to "Catch a Fire," Timothy White’s biography of Marley. I know there were several Bob Marley projects in development at some time-I’m sure at least one had Denzel Washington attached-but none of them have made it to the screen yet.
Making a bio-pic of a musical icon can be tough for a few reasons. First, you have to get the artist’s music rights, because without the recognizable songs, what’s the point? Second, you need to find an actor who can pull off the role, which for Marley could be tricky.
Finally and most importantly, you have to figure out what the cinematic story is. Sadly, people’s actual lives don’t break down into three convenient acts with rising action and a winning combination of humor and pathos. (For that, see "Behind the Music," which shoehorns everything into the same "…and then drugs came into the picture" template.)
Real life is messy and tangled, with false starts and contradictory motivations. Assuming you died today (a safe bet, since most rock stars die young), how would your ghost write the story of your life? I suspect it would be hard to pull out any overall themes or structure, and you know yourself better than you know Bob Marley.
Despite these obstacles, I’m certain someone will figure out how to make a Bob Marley movie. Maybe it will be you.
Articles
May 20th, 2005 at 10:55 am
Power Screenwriting author, Michael Chase Walker relates his account of living in Jamaica on assigmmentadapting Timothy White’s epic biography Catch A Fire for the screen.
Read the Opening Act to Catch A Fire: The Life and Music of Bob Marley on http://www.michaelchasewalker.com or go to: http://www.picturethisstorybooks.com/Catch%20a%20Fire%20Opening.htm
May 20th, 2005 at 11:33 am
MCW - Did you just refer to yourself as a “power screenwriter”?
February 7th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Indeed he did ajax, indeed he did…
February 14th, 2008 at 10:18 am
haha, ajax it’s the title of his book.