For someone who died aged only 29, Hank Williams country music legend has endured thanks to some incredible hits including ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’ and ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’. Now the Nashville-based 821 Entertainment Group has struck a deal with Strike Entertainment to bring Hank’s story to the big screen, through the company’s first-look deal with Universal.
The script will be written by Marc Abraham (who’s best known as producer of the likes of Children Of Men and the Dawn Of The Dead remake), although there’s no news yet on a director or cast.
The deal includes cooperation with Williams’ estate, so they will be able to use his music, and 821 has also optioned Colin Escott’s book ‘Hank Williams: The Biography’ to use a source for the movie.
Hanks’ story could certainly make an interesting movie. He grew up in poverty in Alabama during the Depression and suffered from spina bifida. Williams skyrocketed to music fame in the 40s and early 50s, however the pain from his condition led to morphine and drug addiction. His marriage disintegrated and saw his career start to collapse. He died of a drug/alcohol related heart attack in 1953.
It doesn’t sound like it’ll be a particularly jolly movie, but it could certainly be a fascinating one. As Abraham says, “He was the first real star who went down as the result of his lifestyle, succeeded by Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain. He destroyed himself, but for six years leading to his death, Hank had six songs each year in the top 10.”