As the American film industry continues its collective attempts to figure out to make money without the use of comic book characters, movie producers have turned to the recent success of music-inspired biopics to bring some much-needed originality back to Hollywood. With classic rock acts like Queen, Mötley Crüe, and Elton John experiencing a huge resurgence in their place within pop-culture in recent years, blues legend Robert Johnson could be the next famous musician to have their story brought back to life on the big screen.
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According to a new report shared by Deadline, Robert Johnson, the infamous blues musician of whom not very much is really known yet went on to set the standard for the development of modern American blues music, will be the subject of a forthcoming Hollywood biopic. The project, titled, Love In Vein, will be directed by Peter Ramsey, who was at the helm of the 2018 Oscar-winning film, Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse.
Johnson, as many fans know by way of fireside stories at guitar camp, was a blues guitarist and singer who released 11 78-rpm records during his short life before mysteriously dying at age 27 in 1938. His recordings of “Sweet Home Chicago”, “Cross Road Blues”, “Hellhound on My Trail”, and “Love in Vain” all went on to influence guitar players in the decades to come as blues slowly developed into the birth of rock and roll in the 1950s and 60s. The legend of Johnson is famously known that he supposedly sold his soul to Satan at “The Crossroads” in exchange for groundbreaking guitar abilities.
The screenplay for the forthcoming biopic recently purchased by Paramount was written by Krystin Ver Linden, and Lionel Richie will also be involved in the project as a producer.
No other details on the project regarding casting or release date info were shared with the report.
Listen to Johnson’s recording of “Cross Road Blues” below.
Robert Johnson – “Cross Road Blues”
[Video: Robert Johnson Vevo]
[H/T Deadline]