Hot off extending their deal with Adam Sandler for four more films, Netflix is putting the wheels in motion for a biopic that will chronicle the rise of Motley Crue, who pretty much dominated the heavy metal scene of the 1980s.
Motley Crue movie will be called ‘Dirt’
The new Film will be called “Dirt” and is based on the book “The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band,” which was a huge bestseller upon release because it tapped into the same market as “Hammer of the Gods” of aging rock ‘n’ roll fans who actually buy books and then read them, unlike the Music fans of today.
The big difference between “Hammer of the Gods” and “The Dirt” is that not only was “The Dirt” authorised by the band it’s about, it was actually written by the band it’s about. Motley Crue rockers Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil, and Nikki Sixx teamed up with author Neil Strauss to document all their adventures with the one they call Dr. Feelgood, shouting at the Devil. The rockers will also act as co-producers on the new film.
The screenplay for “Dirt” is being written by Rich Wilkes, known best for “xXx,” and Tom Kapinos, the guy who created “Californication,” so make of that what you will. Apparently Kapinos is a massive fan of the Motley Crue era of rock music from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Before Netflix took on the film from atop their mountain of everyone’s nominal service fees, “Dirt” had been previously under development at Focus Features, who tend to skew towards an international appeal whereas Motley Crue is pure Americana.
After that, it went to Paramount, and now Netflix. Jeff Tremaine from “Jackass” is directing “Dirt,” a strange choice considering it doesn’t feature Johnny Knoxville in prosthetic makeup as a vulgar old man and won’t be shot on hidden cameras featuring passing members of the public who are unfortunate enough to find themselves as a part of the scene.
Well, hopefully it doesn’t, or it’ll suck.
Film will detail the Crue’s depraved exploits over the years
“Dirt” will cover everything Motley Crue have gotten up to, from drugs to women to high-profile celebrity affairs. The four LA-bred rockers started out in 1981 and eventually sold over 100 million records worldwide. In 1983, they rose to prominence at the US Festival, where they were spotted by Ozzy Osbourne, who took them along as his opened on his 1984 world tour, and then their fame just exploded from there.
From then on, sh*t went down constantly, too much for it to all fit in the movie. Neil was in a head-on car crash and got charged with drunk driving and killing his passenger, who just so happened to be Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley, the drummer from Hanoi Rocks. Sixx OD’ed on heroin in 1987 and was considered actually dead for two whole minutes until a paramedic/Motley Crue fan revived him and gave them the inspiration for “Kickstart My Heart.” Neil left the band for most of the ‘90s and Lee quit in 1999. They all went off and did other things, eventually reuniting in 2005, marked with a tour and their album “Red, White & Crue.” They finally performed their final concert on New Year’s Eve in 2015 at the Staples Center in LA, the city where it all started.
