Dead rock stars are always a good bet for a biopic, and now THR reports that writer-director Robert Saitzyk (Goodspped, True Love) is planning one inspired by the last days of Jim Morrison, called The Last Beat. However, you might want to note the words ‘inspired by’ in that sentence.
Saityzyk doesn’t actually have the rights to Morrison’s life, so instead his film will be about the final days of the inspired-by-Morrison Jay Douglas, a famous American rock star in the early, as he navigates his relationships with two women in Paris – a glamorous French Countess named Clemence and his California ‘soulmate’, Valerie Eason. Shawn Andrews (Dazed and Confused, After The Flood) will play the Morrison-esque character
Although it might sound like Saitzyk is just using the Morrison name to get some publicity for the film, there is precedent for what the director is doing, as in 2005 Gus Van Sant did a similar thing with Last Days, which was a fictionalised look at the last days of Kurt Cobain, leading up to his suicide. Shooting on The Last Beat starts in October.