Music

Ramones Biopic Still A Go After Runaways Flop

by Ciaran Thompson

Despite the poor numbers generated from the Joan Jett biopic The Runaways, apparently only $3.5 million, Fox Searchlight will go ahead with its planned film about The Ramones. They’ve hired Wesley Strick, who recently wrote the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, to write a screenplay based on the band’s career.

The Ramones have attained huge success post career, however when they were at the forfront of the punk movement in the late ’70s, the band struggled with record sales as well as conflicts within the group. In an interview with New York Magazine, original member Tommy Ramone recalled an incident while on tour. “We were riding in our van and we made a rest stop at this restaurant,” Tommy said. “After seeing us walk in, the owner of the place went up to our tour manager and said, ‘It’s so nice of you to be taking care of those retarded kids.’ He was serious. That was pretty status quo at the time.

They were very creative, intense, volatile people. And I only speak in the third person because I was their manager, too. I certainly hope they’d make [the film] as authentic as possible. Hopefully, they will find someone who was a fan.”

Strick, who has previous music writing experience with Rolling Stone, Circus and Cream magazines, is adapting the I Slept with Joey Ramone memoir by Joey’s brother Mickey Leigh into the screenplay. During his tenure as a writer, Strick also interviewed the band and reviewed several of their gigs. [NY Mag]

No details have been given as to who will star in the film as Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, Tommy or Marky, but we’d love to hear your suggestions in the comment section.