Matt Greenhalgh‘s screenplay apparently passed the test when it topped last year’s Brit List of best un-produced screenplays of the U.K, and now before director Sam Taylor-Wood even has a chance to yell cut, The Weinstein’s have scooped up the theatrical release rights to Nowhere Boy for a trio of territories – including the U.S. We can say that confidence was instilled upon the release of Anton Corbijn‘s Control – a strong biopic also scripted by Greenhalgh that The Weinsteins released late 2007.
I guess it may always be safer to explore someone who might have been more popular than Jesus when that person wasn’t public domain. I don’t know what the numbers are, but Beatles and John Lennon fans outnumber Joy Division and Ian Curtis fans, so certain liberties can be taken and an exploration of Lennon’s painful backstory/childhood doesn’t come with the added weight or stigma of Hollywood treated biopic material on famous musicians.
Based on John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird’s book Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon, the young future Beatle was raised by his aunt and then discovered his real mother lived around the corner; the family has a struggle as he is reunited with his mother and also discovers rock and roll. It also describes his first meetings with Paul McCartney. Aaron Johnson plays the Beatle as a young man, with Kristin Scott Thomas playing his polarizing Aunt Mimi.
Production should be completed in the beginning of summer with a sound 2010 release date with a Cannes Un Certain Regard selection probably in the works. Taylor-Wood is a video artist, and her short film Love You More won the Palme d’Or last year in Cannes.