Judging from the stellar previews, most would agree: Adrien Brody is the perfect choice to play the legendary magician in History Channel’s buzzed-about biopic Houdini. Biopics have the potential to be huge: Selena, for example, is whatput a young J-Lo on the map. Conversely, they can bomb louder than anything else, as seen with last year’s what-were-they-thinking Liz & Dick, starring Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor (it still sounds hard to believe, even though it already happened).
Soon, three new biopics about ill-fated female stars—two musicians, the other an actress—are hitting the airwaves, and news on certain casting choices have created waves of their own. First, there is the Brittany Murphy Story, which is already getting less-than-stellar buzz. Slated to play the doomed actress is little-known Amanda Fuller, who played Dr. Morgan Peterson on Grey’s Anatomy a few seasons ago. The preview clips available for viewing don’t help.
That’s the thing about biopics: they have to fight an uphill battle. With pieces that tell the biography of a famous (and invariably dead) star, there is a whole built-in pre-existing audience to worry about—and if the filmmakers miss the mark, things can look pretty bleak before the project even starts shooting.
Take the VH1 biopic CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story. This film barely made an impact, even with the strategic placement of Lil Mama as Left Eye. Perhaps fans roll their eyes when one well-known star tries to fill the shoes of another. Makes us wonder if, in spite of all the buildup, The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story will have similarly unimpressive ratings. To the film’s credit, however, it features mostly unknown actors. Time will tell: the movie aired this weekend.
Lastly, there is Aaliyah: Princess of R&B, another upcoming TV biopic chronicling the life of a star cut tragically short (in this case, it was an overloaded plane that crashed in the summer of 2001, killing everyone on board). Playing the titular musician is also a relatively unknown actress, Alexandra Shipp, who has nonetheless appeared on Ray Donovan, Switched at Birth and Awkward. In spite of the film’s obviously dark ending, it will be fun to see various actors portray stars like Missy Elliot, Jay-Z, Timbaland and more.
Biopics are always a gamble, but always something audiences are drawn to. When will we have the definitive biopic on Janis Joplin or Nina Simone? Or what about more recent legends who have left us, like Michael Jackson? One wonders, who would play Amy Winehouse? Or Whitney Houston?
All good questions, some of which we might have answers for soon.
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