Arriving only a week after INXS’ shock announcement that they would “no longer be a touring band” comes the news that the life and times of the band’s late, great frontman Michael Hutchence will be the subject of an upcoming feature film.
As News Ltd reports, the film’s rights have bene picked up by American-born, Australian-based screenwriter and producer Robert ‘Bobby’ Galinsky, with the working title of Two Worlds Colliding, and will be be based on the Michael Hutchence book Just A Man, written by the frontman’s sister Tina and late mother Patricia Glassop.
Galinsky’s film CV is short (and slightly depressing) including the Australian outback thriller Prey, starring ex-Rogue Traders singer Natalie Bassingthwaite, and the upcoming racing epic, Dusty And Glory, which Galinsky wrote and is producing with action director Simon West in the director’s chair.
The announcement of the upcoming Hutchence biopic arrived yesterday, on the 15th anniversary of the performer’s death on November 22nd 1997, and film industry gossip has begun as who will play the lead role of the iconic INXS frontman.
Galinsky has said he already has some ideas and interest as to the lead role, saying that actors including Jai Courtney (of TV series Spartacus: Blood And Sand), Sullivan Stapleton and James Frecheville (both in the cast of 2010’s Animal Kingdom) have all been tabled for the part of Hutchence. Official casting will begin early next year with Galinsky hoping they can begin shooting before the end of 2013.
“I’m hugely excited,” Galinsky told IF Magazine, “this is a project I’ve been wanting to write for over a decade.” The producer first chased the rights for a Hutchence biopic 12 years ago, but placed it in the “too-hard basket” until he met fellow producer Trevor Field “he’s the one who really made this finally happen,” says Galinsky.“It’s obviously a huge responsibility because everyone has an opinion of who Michael was and what he was about…”
Field, a friend of Hutchence’s mother, obtained exclusive rights to the novel penned by the singer’s family, which Galinsky describes as “a heartfelt look at the man, who was not only one of the most charismatic singers of our time, but also, a father, a brother, and a son; rather than an exploitative sex, drugs, rock and roll type of story, which would have been the cheap and nasty route.”
“Bringing the man to the screen is what really appeals to me,” says Galinsky. “It’s obviously a huge responsibility because everyone has an opinion of who Michael was and what he was about, but you can’t satisfy everyone. I think most people will be pleased.”
Galinsky, along with producers Trevor Field and Suzy Markovski, will meet with members of the band next year, “and will hopefully get their blessing with the book. I think they’ll love the script.”
“I feel that we have material that can be as expansive as (Ray Charles biopic) Ray or (Johnny Cash feature) Walk the Line and attract the level of cast and director that can create that level of excitement and excellence Michael’s memory deserves,” said the producer.
“There are a couple of other projects floating around out there but this is one that will stand on its own two legs. For Michael’s fans as well as people who just want to see an astonishingly powerful albeit brief life chronicled on film.”
Speaking of choosing the 15th anniversary of the singer’s passing to announce the feature, Galinsky says, “this film’s intention is to honour the memory of Michael, and many will be thinking of Michael; we thought the date to be appropriate for bringing his memory back to life on the big screen.”
