It’s a project that has been mooted in years past, with various directors, studios, writers, and actors attached (including a strong rumour of James Franco to take the lead role once upon a time), but it seems that a Jeff Buckley biopic is finally going ahead.
The news comes from ComingSoon.net, which reports that Jake Scott (PLUNKETT & MCCLEANE) will direct, and that Ryan Jaffe (THE ROCKER) is to write the screenplay. Buckley’s mother Mary Guibert will act as executive producer for the untitled project, and the filmmakers – including producers Michelle Sy (FINDING NEVERLAND) and Orian Williams (CONTROL) – have exclusive rights to Buckley’s music and archives. Reeve Carney (currently starring as Peter Parker in Broadway’s ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’) will reportedly play the lead role.
The script is set to come from the wealth of information available through Buckley’s archives – including interviews and personal journals – as well as the biography ‘Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley’ which has been optioned by the film’s producers.
Jeff Buckley has remained a popular musician since his accidental drowning in Wolf River, a channel of the Mississippi River. He only released one complete studio album during his career, 1993’s sublime ‘Grace’. Since his death, a number of albums have been released featuring various material, and he has continued to top singles’ charts. Buckley is perhaps best known for his version of the Leonard Cohen song ‘Hallelujah’. He died in 1997, aged 30.
