Following on from last week’s must see biopics, we thought it would be interesting to look at the soon to be release biographical feature films. Although a lot of these films are limited release they may be released wider nearer to awards season or if they prove to be popular or money makers!
The movie is directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffery Friedman. It stars Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, Sharon Stone, Juno Temple, Chris Noth, Chloë Sevigny and James Franco. Set in the 1970’s, the film depicts the life of Linda Lovelace, who is forced to become a porn star by her abusive husband. She manages to escape his clutches and sets off to disclose the seedy under world of the porn industry. So far it has mixed reviews. The trailer can be seen here and may not be safe for work.
Lovelace will have a limited release in the US on the 9th of August.
The Butler is based on the life of Eugene Allen (the film’s character is called Cecil Gaines who is played by Forest Witaker), an African American man who worked at the White House from 1952 to 1986 and rose to the highest rank of butler while there. The film is directed by Lee Daniels and also stars Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr, Terrence Howard, Robin Williams, Alan Rickman, Lenny Kravitz, David Oyelowo and Vanessa Redgrave. The film is set to be released on the 16th of August, however the title may change. The film’s producers are currently battling it out in court with Warner Bros. Pictures, who owns a 1916 film with the same name and refuse to let this film use it.
Starring Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs, the film depicts the Apple co-founder’s life from 1971 to 2011. The film also stars Josh Gad (as Apple’s other co-founder Steve Wozniak), James Woods, Matthew Modine and is directed by Joshua Michael Stern. Like Lovelace, Jobs is also getting mixed reviews. The film will be released on the 16thof August too.
This film depicts the life of Winnie Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s 2nd wife, who stood by her husband when he was arrested and continued with his activism while he was in jail. Jennifer Hudson stars as Winnie with Terrence Howard as Nelson and it is directed by Darrell Roodt. The film has run into some controversies. Winnie Mandela herself objects to the movie over not having consulted her for the film, and some South African actors criticized the film for using American Actors. The movie will have a limited release on the 6th of September.
Starring Naomi Watts as Princess Diana this film tells the story of the last two years of her life, which covers her relationship with Dr Hasnat Khan, Dodi Fayed and her charity work. The film is directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and also stars Naveen Andrews, Cas Anvar, Geraldine James, Douglas Hodge and Charles Edwards. Diana is set to be released on the 20th of September in the UK, the USA date has yet to be confirmed.
Grace of Monaco depicts two years of Grace Kelly’s life in the 1960’s. During this time she struggles with her marriage to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, her new royal identity and must help eased tension between Monaco and France. It stars Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly, Tim Roth as Prince Rainier III and is directed by Olivier Dahan. There is no trailer yet but the film will have a limited release on the 27th of November.
Another Mandela biopic! This one is on Nelson Mandela and is adapted from his autobiography of the same name. Idris Elba will portray Nelson and Naomie Harris will portray Winnie, the film will span from his childhood in a rural village to him being elected as the President of South Africa. Justin Chadwick directed the film; it also has no trailer but will have a limited release on the 29th of November.
Loosely based on the life of Ron Woodroof, Dallas Buyers Club tells the story of a man who was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1986. After taking the approved FDA drug nearly kills him, Ron (played by Matthew McConaughey) searches for a non-toxic medication. These drugs are illegal in the U.S. so his doctor (played by Jennifer Garner) and another patient called Rayon (played by Jared Leto) help him smuggle the drugs in and provide an alternative drug for other HIV-positive patients. The film is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. Dallas Buyers Club will be released on the 6th of December, there is also no trailer. There is a lot of buzz about this film though, which is down to the massive weight loss Matthew and Jared lost to portray HIV-positive patients.
Although this is a TV movie this film is still worth a look due to the amazing Helena Bonham Carter who is playing Elizabeth Taylor! Dominic West plays Richard Burton and the plot centres around them preparing for the theatre play Private Lives in 1983. Richard Laxton is the director for this film. Burton and Taylor will air this Fall/Autumn on BBC America and on BBC Four for the UK.
Another TV film/mini-series coming sometime this year is Fleming. It will look at the early life of Ian Fleming (played by Dominic Cooper), author of the James Bond novels, and how his experiences in Naval Intelligence helped to create 007! Rupert Evans and Lara Pulver will also star in it. Fleming will air in winter 2014 on BBC America and Sky Atlantic for the UK.
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Excellent Ozzie!
I am really looking forward to The Butler and Jobs!!!
Yes, me too. The cast looks great in The Butler.
Those are my picks too. Dallas Buyers Club sounds good as well.
Wow!
Hi Everyone!
AWESOME! Oz!
Ozzie!
Will Fleming be a television series?
It’ll be 4 episodes. So it’s just like a very long movie!
Ah! Gotcha.
Dallas and Mandela sounds good too. I can’t wait to see those too. Do u know if the films will be released in the US or UK only? I hope they don’t go to HBO.
I think more countries will be added in time. With Dallas, Hungary has a released date of sometime in 2014. With Mandela, the Netherlands has a release date of 19th of December.
Do biopics do well in theaters in Europe? If so why do u think they do so well?
I think that’s a yes and I think it is because we have so much history. It doesn’t really matter if it’s another country’s history either because we’re all interlinked in some way, lol!
That is AWESOME! I like history too. Can u tell? Hahaha!
Oh yes, I can tell! A history buff can easily be spotted by another history buff! 🙂
Hello everyone! 🙂
Hi Ozzie!
Hello OB! How are you?
I’m good! A bit busy but good. How about u?
Exhausted! We’ve been having new carpets put down so I’ve been playing real life 3D tetris again but it was worth it! The whole house, flooring wise, is finished. Which is good because if I had to go carpet shopping one more time, I would of tried to smother myself with the samples!
Oh No Oz! That doesn’t sound fun at all. I think u deserve a trip to Pleasure Beach. Hahaha!
Woo hoo! That sounds fun! 🙂
This is the best I can do. Hahaha!
LOL! I’ve never been there. Every year we talk about going and every year we don’t actually get round to going. One I will!
Well when u do go let me know so I can live vicariously through u? Hahaha! I have not been on my rollercoaster tour this year so I’m settling for youtube videos and friends who are going. LOL!!
Ozzie,
How did u hear and find out about these bio-pics in your article?
Well, I like to check the news and pick something current. There was genuinely alot of news this week about bio-pics. Out of those 10 films/tv movies, 6 were in the news and 4 I added because I remembered them being talked about a while back and thought it would be good to add them. Since then I’ve remembered some more! There’s at least 2 films on Julian Assange and at least 2 films on Stephen Hawkings I think! Oh and there’s no news updates on the Nina Simone film. 😦
Well u did a fantastic job researching this article. The Nina Simone film I’m actually looking forward to. I wonder if the trouble is in marketing the film? I know it was in post production a few months ago.
Yes, I’m intrigued too. It’s still listed as being in post production and the USA is down for a 2013 release but there’s no date set. There’s something going wrong somewhere.
Do u think the film would do well in theaters in Europe?
I honestly don’t know. Music is a personal choice. I could see it being a big indie hit but I’m not sure it would be a blockbuster. I’m trying to think of other films on music icon and I can’t think of any! I might have to do a bit of googling to help my memory, lol!
What is it about some Biopics like Lincoln, Argo, Social Network, Queen, Kings Speech etc.. That have done well in theaters? Do u think having a strong lead actor helps? or is having a fairly unknown lead and a well known director the attraction like in Social Network?
Good questions! If you have a really strong character to play, like a president or royalty, I think you need to have a strong actor who can completely embody that person. I think with lesser known stories you can get away more with an unknown lead. There’s little preconception of what the character is like so any mistakes tend not to be noticed as much. However it definately needs a well known director, or producer I suppose, to create buzz for the film.
ITA Oz! For me Social Network was appealing because of the story then the director second. The actor only in this instance came in third.
I’ve noticed bio-pics with a female lead don’t do as well as those with male leads. For example Zero Dark Thirty it made 102 mil and Argo 232 mil. they both cost about 40 mil to produce. Do u think men are less likely to go see a film about a women then say women will go see a film about a man?
Another good question! I’m not sure it is about the gender of the lead character but rather the topics. I haven’t watched Zero Dark Thirty yet (I have on dvd at last but Lincoln is hogging the dvd player at the moment, lol) but I would assume it’s alot darker than Argo. Argo has some humour in it too. Plus the event it is based on is about thirty years old. Zero Dark Thirty’s story happened quite recent and tensions are still running high. I’m thinking that is the reason why there are differences in box office figures.
Ozzie!
I must call it a night. Thank u for the great article and info on these upcoming bio-pics. It was very informative I learned about some new ones too. Thank u!
Goodnight!
It was no problem! I’ve had fun while I wrote it and now during the discussion. I’ll be back again tomorrow night because right now my brain is shutting down fast, lol! See you later! 🙂
‘Fleming’ (again the working title) will be filmed on location in the United Kingdom and Budapest in early 2013 and will be directed by Mat Whitecross (‘The Road to Guantanamo’) and written by John Brownlow (‘Sylvia’) and Don MacPherson (‘Entrapment’).
Another biopic!
It looks good!
Hi Oz!
This does looks good. When does it come out this Christmas? That’s a good time.