Reeve Carney, star of Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, is set to play doomed troubadour Jeff Buckley in a much vaunted biopic about the star. He beat out competition from Twilight star Robert Pattinson and former Spiderman movie franchise star James Franco.
The film is one of two biopics planned about the Grace singer, but this one is sanctioned by the late star’s mother, Mary Guibert, who also controls many of the rights to his music. Directed by Welcome to the Rileys director Jake Scott, the film is set to start shooting in New York this November, where Buckley rose to fame with his ethereal performances at the Sin-é Café and will also shoot scenes in Memphis; where he drowned in 1997.
Buckley’s Mum said in a statement “We are over the moon that Reeve has agreed to take on this challenging role, He’s been getting ready for this all his life. It certainly doesn’t hurt that he looks so much like Jeff.”
Director Scott said of the casting, “We are excited to have found in Reeve the perfect combination of musical prodigy, impish charm, innate intelligence and sensitivity to play Jeff.” This biopic is not to be confused with a rival biopic entitled Greetings From Tim Buckley which will star Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley and is centred around Jeff’s relationship with his folk singer father Tim.
