Fox 2000 (a 2oth Century Fox subsidiary) has nabbed the rights to a new film — not a biopic — about the seminal Californian pop outfit, The Beach Boys.
The projects is coming under the aegis of actor John Stamos who is one of the co-producers on the film (along with Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the duo responsible for “Hairspray” and attempting the new “Footloose”)
And you’re probably thinking, wtf Stamos? But then you’re not fully remembering history. In 1990, he started playing drums and recording with the Beach Boys during their “Kokomo” days. Stamos actually does still tour with the group until this day. As someone much younger than everyone else in the group (the group are all approaching their ’70s; though these days it’s just scoundrel Mike Love, Bruce Johnston –who joined in 1965 after Brian Wilson left — and a bunch of other touring musicians), we imagine Stamos must have some stories.
However, those stories won’t matter — not even legendary ones like Brian Wilson going nuts trying to best The Beatles with Pet Sounds and Smile. It’s not a biopic and or band film in any way. Variety describes it as a “feature musical set to the music of the Beach Boys” which would mean something in the vein of “Across the Universe,” the Julie Taymor film set to Beatles music (but generally not having much to do with The Beatles themselves or their history). But the real impetus of this picture is less arty like that pic and more success-oriented like Universal’s “Mamma Mia!” which grossed an astounding $609 million worldwide and used the music of Abba set to a fictional storyline (the same idea will happen here and you know the studio is hoping to create a repeat of that financial success).
No plotlines were revealed according to THR, and the script is being written by Susannah Grant, who penned “Erin Brokovich.”
We’ll admit we’re a bit bummed that this isn’t a biopic, but maybe that’s for the best as rock biopics can be an embarrassing affair. Another reason might be that the rights to the Beach Boys story is obviously in the hands of several people and Mike Love — who has launched several lawsuits against his more talented bandmates and now owns the rights to the band’s name — isn’t the most well loved member of the group. Suffice to say if/when someone did try and get a biopic of the band off the ground, there could be several legal obstacles and this simply might be easier (and if you’re a “Mamma Mia!” studio head, simply thinking more profitable).
It would be nice (“wouldn’t it be nice?“), if the song selection centered around records like Pet Sounds, the incredibly underrated Sunflower, Surf’s Up, 20/20, Friends and the late-60s, early ’70s period, but we won’t be at all surprised if the film just focuses on Surfin’ Safari through All Summer Long. Granted, those are still some great songs, but they still pale in comparison to the more refined work that came later on.