Don’t people usually ask permission before making a movie about a living person?
A new biopic about Billy Joel is in development, with John Ottman attached as editor and director.
However, a representative for Joel has stated that the musician has not authorised the film. Focusing on the years well before “Piano Man”, the film is told through the lens of Billy Joel’s first manager, Irwin Mazur.
A spokesperson for the ‘Vienna’ singer told Rolling Stone in a statement:
“Since 2021, the parties involved have been officially notified that they do not possess Billy Joel’s life rights and will not be able to secure the music rights required for this project.”
The statement went on to affirm that, “Billy Joel has not authorized or supported this project in any capacity, and any attempt to move forward without it would be both legally and professionally misguided.”
Ottman addressed the statement, saying that “to characterize the project as ‘legally and professionally misguided’ does not accurately reflect the actual nature of the film or the rights underlying the production.”
He added that “the project is based on Irwin Mazur’s firsthand experiences and his legitimate right to tell his own life story and perspective surrounding the events depicted in the film.”
Alongside his involvement in Billy & Me, Ottman was also a lead editor on the Michael Jackson biopic Michael, released last month, which, despite its massive commercial success and fanfare, drew concerns about the authenticity of its depiction of Jackson’s life.
The musician’s daughter, Paris Jackson, said of the film:
“A big section of the film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy, and they’re gonna be happy with it.”
Paris also stated that Hollywood “sugar-coated” biopics in general: “The narrative is being controlled and there’s a lot of inaccuracy and there’s a lot of just full-blown lies. At the end of the day, that doesn’t really fly with me. Go enjoy it. Do whatever. Leave me out of it.”
Safe to say, there will always be issues when recalling the lives of real people. But when a movie is so closely centred on a person – his name in the title and all – and they don’t approve, perhaps that should be a hint to hit the brakes on this one altogether.
