Amir Bar-Lev’s adaptation of Robert Greenfield’s “Dark Star: An Oral Biography on Jerry Garcia” — the story of the Grateful Dead lead guitarist’s early life before he became the figurehead of the legendary jam band — has been dealt a severe blow with Garcia’s estate refusing to allow any music rights for the project’s use.
“We want to make clear that neither Grateful Dead Prods. nor the Jerry Garcia Family LLC are in any way working with — or are in any other way affiliated with — the supposed upcoming Amir Bar-Lev-directed biopic about Jerry Garcia,” a statement revealed. “We will not be licensing any recordings from Grateful Dead or Jerry Garcia’s music library for this production, nor will we provide the producer/director with access to any Garcia family members.”
Denying nearly three decades of music from his subject is a setback for the “Tillman Story” and “My Kid Could Paint That” director, though hopefully may not hinder the entire project for him. Author Greenfield did reveal that “the movie ends when Garcia leaves to join the Dead [instead exploring] the period when the guitarist was working in coffee shops and playing bluegrass, newly married with a young daughter.” So maybe Bar-Lev can find ways to work around it.
Script will come courtesy of Topper Lilien (“Dungeons & Dragons,” “Where The Money Is”) with the story hoping to portray Garcia as “a complex human being. After a certain point, everyone had their own vision of Jerry. This film is about who he really was before people made him what they wanted him to be. I think a lot of that has been lost in the legend and the myth that has grown since his death,” author Greenfield added.
The film is eying a shoot for early next year and is being produced by Eric Eisner and Bona Fide partners Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa.