Stevie Movie in Pre-Production/Lohan to Play Stevie

[GypsySongbird]

i posted about this on seven wonders but i'll post it again here,
if this does happen i'd be kind of worried about how they'd portray the rest of the band, particularly christine, especially if they just use her as stevies backup/sidekick, which anyone who knows anyhting about fleetwood mac knows she isnt!
why can't they just do a fleetwood mac movie? their lives are all just as interesting

[DrummerDeanna]

Puleeeeze!!! This is so not going to happen. I can feel it in ma bones. I mean there's been a Janis Joplin film in development for almost 12 years now..and nothing.

And Janis has more on Stevie in terms of a movie that would draw people. We all love her - but as Nancy said, unless they really play up the soap opera - there won't be much interest IMO.

[gypsysoul]

Firstly, I think a film about the Buckinghamnicks love affair (with a good script) would make an excellent story a la Walk the Line and set in the context of Fleetwood Mac, especially the Rumours era. This way the rest of the band would not be diminished but equally would not be the focus.

The couple's songs about each other would provide a fantastic, dramatic musical backdrop.

The whole 'will they/won't they' could easily keep a non Fleetwood Mac audience enthralled just as Walk the line did for people (like me) who knew nothing of that relationship.

I don't think Stevie alone is a good enough subject: she did all the drugs and sleeping around but she neither died young nor came through to live a happy life as most people would want it to end ie with love/marriage/children.

Unless Stevie's life is put in the context of another person whom the audience can also care about it will have no real substance or emotional pull for them. Single rock star leads a life of drugs and short affairs - so what?

Therefore LB would have to be an integral part, he is the only enduring love she has had and therefore the only one people would actually care about.
The likes of Don Henley would simply be cameos that music fans would recognize but would mean little to most people (the Eagles were big, he personally was not.)

Secondly, cast: i would choose Scarlett Johansson as Stevie and get someone to do the singing. Scarlett is an excellent actress, young enough to pull off innocent BN Stevie and later more worldly Stevie.
As for LB, my first choice woul dbe Billy Crudup but if we're talking young Lindsey then possibly British actor Rufus Sewell.

[BlackWidow]

Originally Posted by GypsySongbird

i posted about this on seven wonders but i'll post it again here,
if this does happen i'd be kind of worried about how they'd portray the rest of the band, particularly christine, especially if they just use her as stevies backup/sidekick, which anyone who knows anyhting about fleetwood mac knows she isnt!
why can't they just do a fleetwood mac movie? their lives are all just as interesting

Wasn't she basically Stevie's back-up singer...

[BlackWidow]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

I love Stevie to death but she is no way near as iconic or as culturally important as Johnny Cash. There may be many people who aren't familiar with Cash's music but they've sure as hell heard of him. Whereas Stevie is often nothing more than a footnote outside the States. There's no way Stevie's picture would be on the cover of Time when she dies. I adore her, but Cash is up there with Elvis practically. They don't compare really.

Oh PLEASE!
If anything happened to Stevie..she would be on every cover..including ROLLING STONE! Get off the Johnny Cash deal already!

[BlackWidow]

Originally Posted by gypsysoul

Firstly, I think a film about the Buckinghamnicks love affair (with a good script) would make an excellent story a la Walk the Line and set in the context of Fleetwood Mac, especially the Rumours era. This way the rest of the band would not be diminished but equally would not be the focus.

The couple's songs about each other would provide a fantastic, dramatic musical backdrop.

The whole 'will they/won't they' could easily keep a non Fleetwood Mac audience enthralled just as Walk the line did for people (like me) who knew nothing of that relationship.

I don't think Stevie alone is a good enough subject: she did all the drugs and sleeping around but she neither died young nor came through to live a happy life as most people would want it to end ie with love/marriage/children.

Unless Stevie's life is put in the context of another person whom the audience can also care about it will have no real substance or emotional pull for them. Single rock star leads a life of drugs and short affairs - so what?

Therefore LB would have to be an integral part, he is the only enduring love she has had and therefore the only one people would actually care about.
The likes of Don Henley would simply be cameos that music fans would recognize but would mean little to most people (the Eagles were big, he personally was not.)

Secondly, cast: i would choose Scarlett Johansson as Stevie and get someone to do the singing. Scarlett is an excellent actress, young enough to pull off innocent BN Stevie and later more worldly Stevie.
As for LB, my first choice woul dbe Billy Crudup but if we're talking young Lindsey then possibly British actor Rufus Sewell.

OMG!
You are right. scarlett could do it! GOOD ONE!

[BlackWidow]

Originally Posted by TpaDavid

Bette performed in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway for several years. This was before she recorded any music ....love the Bette

GOOD POINT! I think its called "training!"

[johndoe]

Originally Posted by BlackWidow

Oh PLEASE!
If anything happened to Stevie..she would be on every cover..including ROLLING STONE! Get off the Johnny Cash deal already!

What world are you living in? She'd get an article, a mention, but not covers. She MIGHT get Rolling Stone if they had nothing else to go on. But I've noticed this problem with fans for almost every band ever, fans forget that just because they like something doesn't mean the world at large does.

Take a step outside of the Fleetwood Mac realm, and you'll realize that shes not even in the same level as Johnny Cash.

[BlackWidow]

Originally Posted by johndoe

What world are you living in? She'd get an article, a mention, but not covers. She MIGHT get Rolling Stone if they had nothing else to go on. But I've noticed this problem with fans for almost every band ever, fans forget that just because they like something doesn't mean the world at large does.

Take a step outside of the Fleetwood Mac realm, and you'll realize that shes not even in the same level as Johnny Cash.

You are so funny...
I actually respect the work of Johnny Cash. His work does not speak to me though. Look at June Carter Cash. She rode on the coat tails of a famous man. Was no big deal. And yet in the right hands that role lead another no talent like Reese Witherspoon to an Oscar for Best Actress. See how mediocrity is valued and rewarded? I think Nicks life story is much more compelling!

[johndoe]

Her story has nothing on that of Johnny Cash. The story was about him, not June. Reese won because she played June Carter Cash with an amazing ability. Not because her character was interesting. In the story of Johnny Cash, her role mattered because Walk the Line outlined a realtionship who could in a weird way only find a moment alone when they were on stage. Drugs/Sex/Rock n Roll isn't exciting material, or Oscar winning material.

Remember, YOU are not the movie going public. You are a Stevie Nicks fan. Naturally the story will be interesting to you. But a large majority of the world are not Stevie Nicks fans, and won't find it interesting.

[ELIUD]

I totally agree 100% with gypsysoul on all accounts. The rocky relationship between Stevie and Lindsey throughout the years is enough to make a great movie. Mick would be involved alot since he and Stevie had their fling. Chris and John would be there of course - but too bad - they're boring and their on-camera time would be limited to group/concert scenes and background shots. Sorry.

The film (like the earth) would center around the drama of Stevie's loves, her abortion(s), her rehab, her WEIGHTGAIN, her tantrums, her depression....oh there's so much you wouldn't even need her to sing! I kid - the musical opportunities are endless. Some of the "standards" would be just BARELY sampled throughout the movie and the lesser known yet essential songs would finally be broken out. Lindsey and Stevie would have to have at least one smack down physical fight. They could show the other band members pulling them off each other, lots of kicking and screaming and throwing. And of course lots of drug use, lots of excessiveness and the infamous piles of coke.

It would really have to be a love story of two high school sweethearts with a dream and the nightmare it all became before they learned to do things right - like without killing each other. Everything would start with Stevie and Lindsey in high school and end with the reunion at the Clinton Inaugural Gala. Then they do a quick jump to the taping of the Dance so you get to see Stevie skinny again at the end!

The people who did "What's Love Got to Do With It?" should do it all. They paid great respect to Tina, who collaborated with them. But Stevie would have to really drop her guard to make this movie the spectacle that it could be and the great success!

Who gives a **** how she compares to Johnny Cash? He's no litmus test for interesting life stories.

[Serrart]

Originally Posted by johndoe

Her story has nothing on that of Johnny Cash. The story was about him, not June. Reese won because she played June Carter Cash with an amazing ability. Not because her character was interesting. In the story of Johnny Cash, her role mattered because Walk the Line outlined a realtionship who could in a weird way only find a moment alone when they were on stage. Drugs/Sex/Rock n Roll isn't exciting material, or Oscar winning material.

Remember, YOU are not the movie going public. You are a Stevie Nicks fan. Naturally the story will be interesting to you. But a large majority of the world are not Stevie Nicks fans, and won't find it interesting.

You got to think to international not english spoken market, where very few people knew who Johnny Cash was. The movie though went pretty well even in those countries because the story had the elements that sell, two young actors who are very respected, and a pretty solid director. Stevie's way more known than Johnny Cash around the world, at least as an icon, and her story has even more elements that sell, like the fact that she's still alive. But they need a very good director (possibly a great one) and at least two very skilled actresses, for the different ages to keep the movie together. From what I've seen Lindsay Lohan hasn't enough talent to approach this part but she has at least two very awaited movies coming out, Altman's A Prairie home companion and Bobby (possibly also the film about Mark Chapman could be a good vehicle). If she manages to get strong reviews (at Berlin Film Festival all the cast was generally praised, but the most mentioned had been Keillor, Streep and Harrelson) she could be a contender for the part. I'd go for Kate Winslet instead.

BY the way, IMO a movie about Fleetwood Mac isn't possible, the major issue would be the songs' rights cost, that would be astronomic. On a bio with Stevie, involving her in the project, they'll be able to manage the costs.
To cope with one artist is way easier than involving 5,6,7,8...

Romy

[ELIUD]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

I love Stevie to death but she is no way near as iconic or as culturally important as Johnny Cash. There may be many people who aren't familiar with Cash's music but they've sure as hell heard of him. Whereas Stevie is often nothing more than a footnote outside the States. There's no way Stevie's picture would be on the cover of Time when she dies. I adore her, but Cash is up there with Elvis practically. They don't compare really.

The legendary life of Johnny Cash was not a motivator in my renting the DVD "Ring of Fire". I did so because I heard Reese Witherspoon gave another stellar performance and that she would be competing with Felicity Huffman for the Oscar. I bet that not everybody who went to the theatre to see it was a passionate devoted fan of the man in black.

People go to movies for lots of reasons but mostly because of the publicity and the marketing - and I do mean MOSTLY. There's a lot of material to work with regarding Stevie and Fleetwood Mac that would provide a depiction of really hedonistic people's lives being built up and torn down. And lets face it - we're talking about an R-rated movie here, so some people would come just to see the tits of the actress playing Stevie. That's what sells and appeals to the masses. I believe it could be REALLY BIG so let's leave Johnny outta the equasion here from now on. It's silly.

[ELIUD]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Sometimes it's like banging your head against a brick wall isn't it?

I definitely think a movie about Stevie would have limited appeal but if she got behind it the way Tina Turner did with hers, and had a big star in the main role, it could be a minor hit.

Maybe in your movie the ghosts of Johnny Cash, Janis Joplin and Elvis Presley could help Stevie along on her road to fame. God forbid they should make a movie about anybody less famous than Johnny.

[ELIUD]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

...I was just pointing out that more people are aware of who he is. Most people in the UK, for instance, would not know who Stevie is.

Yes I got that. And I'm telling you it's the marketing not how well-known your subject is.