Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Kurt Cobain Biopic 'In The Works,' 16 Years After His Death

In the 16 years since Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was found dead on April 5, 1994, numerous attempts have been made to recount his too-short life in film. "Milk" director Gus Van Sant came the closest, modeling the lead character (played by Michael Pitt) in 2005's "Last Days" after Cobain. A handful of documentaries have also recounted his tragic tale.

The next hope for Nirvana fans who would like to see the fallen musician immortalized on the big screen is an untitled biopic that is said to be based largely on "Heavier Than Heaven," a 2001 biography by Charles R. Cross. "Quantum of Solace" director Marc Forster was at one point rumored to be helming the biopic, though the gig has since passed to "The Messenger" director Oren Moverman.

When MTV News spoke with Moverman in February, he set the record straight.

"There is a script from David Benioff ["25th Hour"/ "Brothers" screenwriter] that is about Kurt Cobain, and I'm in negotiations to polish it and then direct it, but it's not a done deal deal yet," he said. "It's in the works and hopefully it will work out."

Moverman added that Benioff's script does not lean as much on "Heavier Than Heaven" as some initially thought. "That book has a lot of information, so, yeah, it's definitely a great resource. But a lot of [the script] is also based on David Benioff's research and creative flourishes," he explained. "To tell you the truth, it's so early in the process, it would be not right for me to try to guess what the film will be before I start to actually attack it, before I'm officially on it."

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