I realize it's only been 30 years since they were at the height of their careers, but it's stunning that we haven't yet managed to get a Ramones biopic out there. Now it looks like precisely the right people are trying to get it going. Fox Searchlight is in negotiations to pick up a project based on the memoir I Slept With Joey Ramone, written by Mickey Leigh, the brother of the band's lead singer.
Of course, the key element of any music biopic is the music, and according to Variety the negotiations there are so tricky that no deal has yet been finalized. But given that Searchlight managed to make $40 million off the mediocre rap biopic Notorious earlier this year, it's inspiring to think of what they could do with the Ramones story told well.
The book, logically, centers on Joey Ramone, the mercurial lead singer who died of lymphoma in 2001. But given all the fighting among the bandmates, and the fascinating history of punk that The Ramones helped create, there's a lot to draw from. If Searchlight makes it that'll just increase the possibility that the movie will actually be good, and perhaps more importantly, that people will actually see it.
