You might have heard that this year is the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. We've got Taking Woodstock on the way, and now we're getting a reminder that we still haven't gotten big-screen Jimi Hendrix rife with the music that made him an icon. (Like his Woodstock performance of "The Star Spangled Banner.") There was the mess back in 2006, but now Variety reports that Legendary Pictures is eager to get a biopic in the works. But, you see, they don't have the rights.Rather than doing things the logical way -- that is, getting the green light from the rights holders and then creating the project -- they're going to cross their fingers and do it the opposite way. "The company's plan is to develop the project first, then try to win the cooperation of the estate." At the very least, it would mean that Legendary would have to cook up one heck of a film to be the final victors -- winning the rights from Experience Hendrix (run by his stepsister, Janie Hendrix). But it's also one risky move -- stepping in where others have already failed.
What do you think the project will need to win the respect, and rights, from Janie? Surely, the film will have to be respectful, but it'll also have to be wonderfully cast -- hopefully with someone who knows their way around a guitar. Is there anyone who could embody Jimi in both talent and spirit and put us in a "Purple Haze"?
