All Shall Love Me and Despair

I was starting to wonder if this film ever would get made! :D

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117965043.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2562

Wood to star as Iggy Pop
Gomez directs 'Passenger'
By PATRICK FRATER

CANNES — Former Hobbit Elijah Wood is to star as Iggy Pop in "The Passenger," a biopic of the legendary rocker.
Pic is to be exec produced by Ted Hope's This Is That Prods. and Traction Media, and repped in international territories by Oz-U.K. sales firm Becker Intl., which in Cannes is handling Directors Fortnight title "Control," about Brit band Joy Division. Traction Media will handle rights in North America.

"Passenger," which follows Pop's early years with his band the Stooges, is to be helmed by Nick Gomez ("Drowning Mona") from a script by Eric Schmid.

Pic will lense in next six months and is skedded for delivery by midsummer 2008. The $6 million-$8 million budget is being put together from a combination of pre-sales, a U.S. equity fund and tax credits from Philadelphia.

Pop has "given his blessing" to the project but will not take part in it, according to Becker's head of finance and operations Jonathan Page.

I can't wait to see pics of Elijah in character... hopefully we'll get some while they're filming! :P

not_alone was able to provide the exact text I was asking about yesterday, thanks to her hubby bringing home the latest Mojo magazine - thanks to you both! :D

ROCK FILMS STARRING ...

1. ELIJAH WOOD AS IGGY POP

Written and directed by film-maker Nick Gomez (OZ, The Sopranos), The Passenger will focus on Iggy's tempestuous phase fronting The Stooges. "You could say its my musical debut" reckons Wood. "The script is wonderful, but then the reality was that I'd have to portray him, which was frightening". And may involve nudity.

Sounds more like conjecture on the part of the writer to me... but we can still hope they'll want to stay as truthful as possible to the real story! ;)

not_alone also says the article mentions that no-one has yet been cast for the Ian Curtis film. Frankly, I'd have expected them to be filming already - that must have been a year at least that Elijah's been talking about wanting to do this?



ETA: salogel just found this article from Contactmusic - and don't let the first paragraph mislead you!

IGGY POP REFUSES TO TAKE PART IN BIOPIC

IGGY POP is refusing to have anything to do with his biopic after learning LORD OF THE RINGS star ELIJAH WOOD is to play him in the project.

The punk icon has nothing against the actor, but he thinks it would be a terrible idea to get involved in his own movie life story.

He says, "The script ain't chopped liver... It was a work of art. But subjectively, I don't want to be involved in any way.

"A producer and the writer sent me a very decent letter, and asked me to write back if I didn't want them to do it... I don't feel negative about it at all."

Iggy Pop admits that, like many, he was "curious" about the casting of Wood.

He adds, "I don't really know about him... I saw him on TV the other day, and he seems like a very poised and talented actor."

11/01/2006 02:13