- Film And TV
- 01 Feb 22
The movie on rock 'n' roll icon Keith Moon is being produced by former bandmates Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend.
After a two decade intermission, the biopic on late The Who drummer Keith Moon is finally set to begin shooting in June.
Tentatively titled The Real Me, the name of a song from The Who album Quadrophenia, the film will focus on the turbulent life of Moon in his rise to rock 'n' roll stardom. The drummer behind some of the biggest classics in rock, Moon was known for his explosive personality and self destructive lifestyle—notable moments including cherry-bombing toilets and filling his drum sets with flash powder.
In addition to his on-stage antics, the film will also focus on "the real Moon," said band frontman Roger Daltrey in an interview with Alice Cooper. "I don't want anything in it that people expect," he said.
Despite having etched his name into music history, Moon was known for a crippling drug and alcohol addiction, something that eventually took his life. The drummer succumbed to a drug overdose in his London apartment in 1978 at only 32 years of age.
The summer milestone is a big deal for Daltrey, who has been spearheading a film on Moon since the early 2000s. Daltery, now 77, is being joined by The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, 76, as an executive producer on the project. The band's long-time manager Bill Curbishley is also teaming up as a producer.
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Casting for the biopic has yet to be confirmed, though Daltery did explain some criteria in a 2018 interview with BBC 6 Music. "It’s going to be very, very dependent on the actor and the actor’s eyes," he said. "You’ve got to cast it completely from the eyes because Moon had extraordinary eyes.”
The movie is being written directed by Paul Whittington, who's previous works include The Crown and The Murders at White House Farm. Los Angeles-based White Horse Pictures is producing. The company is responsible for several documentaries on rock 'n' roll giants, such as Martin Scorsese's George Harrison: Living in the Material World.