Just as the film All Is By My Side got rolling — that movie in which Andre Benjamin of OutKast stars as legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix — we heard from the Hendrix estate, which said that the film was moving forward without an agreement in place from those who control rights to the musician’s song catalogue.
In other words, unless something changed, the Jimi Handrix biopic would not have any Jimi Hendrix music. Nothing has changed, and now we know that the film will feature covers of songs by The Beatles, Muddy Waters, and other artists. But given the way Hendrix used to play cover sets before his explosion in popularity, that’s not such a weird or bad thing. Read More »
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It seems like biopics and other similar true life stories are exploding in development right now, and we’ve got casting for three big ones. First up, the Jimi Hendrix film All is By My Side has just added a young Keith Richards. British actor Ashley Charles will play the Rolling Stones songwriter and guitarist.
John Ridley is directing the film now, with Andre Benjamin as Hendrix, and Hayley Atwell as Linda Keith, who during the story’s time frame was dating Richards. She ‘discovered’ Hendrix and tried to get the Stones management to work with him, to no avail. Keith Richards likely won’t play a big part in the film, which chronicles the days before Hendrix made it big.
Fun fact checking: let’s see how people refer to Richards in this film. In ’63 the Stones manager started listing the guitarist as Keith Richard, and it wasn’t until the ’70s that he once again became Richards. [THR]
After the break, Donal Logue plays an important figure in the New York music scene, and Colin Farrell is in talks for the Mary Poppins film Saving Mr. Banks. Read More »
The Jimi Hendrix biopic All is by My Side may not have the blessing of the Hendrix estate — or it didn’t a few weeks ago, anyway — but it is moving forward regardless. André Benjamin, member of OutKast and occasional actor, is playing Hendrix after years of talking about the possibility, and photos of the actor in costume have hit the internet.
Sure, this is basically Benjamin in an appropriate wig and a peek at the actual costume he’ll wear in one scene, but with his mustache in shape he looks more or less like Hendrix.
That’s just the beginning, however, as Jimi has an instantly recognizable stage presence and speech pattern, in addition to his eccentric guitar playing style. Can Benjamin get all that down and make the character feel like more than a put-on? We’ll see eventually. In the meantime there are a couple pics of him, as well as two of co-star Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger). She plays Linda Keith, who was dating Keith Richards when she befriended Hendrix and helped him get a record deal. Read More »
Earlier this week we passed on the rumor that All is By My Side, a long-simmering biopic of the amazing and groundbreaking guitarist/singer/songwriter Jimi Hendrix, would finally shoot this month with Andre Benjamin of OutKast in the lead role. (Benjamin has an acting resume, in films like Idlewild, Be Cool and Four Brothers.)
Now we’ve got confirmation of that report, with some new details. Haley Atwell is confirmed for a role and Imogen Poots will play in the picture, too.
But there’s a problem: while financing is set so that John Ridley, who also wrote, can direct the film in Ireland just weeks from now, Hendrix rights holders Experience Hendrix say they’re not on board with the project. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 by Angie Han
For years now, André Benjamin has been talking about playing the lead in a biopic of Jimi Hendrix‘s life. But between the Hendrix estate’s notoriously tight hold on the late musician’s work and the fact that we haven’t heard of much forward movement on the film, we couldn’t help but be skeptical.
According to a new report, however, not only is the movie in pre-production, it could shoot as early as this month under the title All is By My Side. It may be worth taking this news with a grain of salt, but if true, it’s a surprising and exciting development on a project that looked like it might never actually get off the ground.
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