Mötley Crüe biopic gets first cast member (probably)

Whoa, whoa, whoa...PAMELA DES BARRES? One of these things doesn't belong! Miss Pamela was a married mother in her 30s and a homemaker when The Crue were starting out. Wrong decade!

Chrissy Metz could done a wig and play Vince.

I read the dirt a million years ago. But in Jenna Jameson's book, she said her night with Tommy Lee was like a Disney movie bc deer and animals kept showing up at the window. That anecdote I got a kick out of.

So it's gonna be on Netflix? Not in theaters?

That’s right R4. The script was originally at Paramount like 10 years ago, then jumped to Focus who dropped the rights back to the band for whatever reason. Netflix have just stepped in to back this year it with no real competition, as this thing has been in development hell for over a decade.

It might be interesting to see how this grimy & debauched glitter-romp will play out given the times we’re in, and how Netflix decide to shoot it. The Crüe wanted unknowns to play them at Paramount but Netflix are going in a different direction...

No-one knows anything else about it this early on, and it doesn’t even seem to be in pre-production yet. Question is, will it be a 2 hour movie as intended, or extended to a miniseries like other Netflix Originals?

Who's going to play the chick with the squirting twat?

She’s! got! the Looks! that KILL!

R6 Ms. Roxana Shirazi does have a name, you know. And yes, she is a woman of many & various talents DL could learn...

Her autobio was 10 times better than Nikki’s, and coincidentally in one of her anecdotes she writes about a ‘boring dinner date’ with him and a stripper where he talked her ear off about gardening and couldn’t have been less interested in sex (Shirazi also notes that Tommy Lee is like a ‘kid’ with ‘no sexual energy’). Perhaps she ought to get a Netflix biopic instead of this boring bunch of ratty-tattoed clowns.

How about Amy the Schumes as Lita?

Douglas Booth as Nikki Sixx??? There was no one else? Sorry, I don’t buy Booth as a member of Motley Crue.

I agree R10; I like Dougie personally and I take no issue with his acting career but he’s just far too clean-cut & upper-crust to do this justice, not to mention too widely-known already as a model and someone with bankable commercial appeal. It doesn’t even matter so much that he’s a Brit...

To get their leads Netflix should have gone with scrappy up-and-comers who need the work or street-cast. It’s riskier, but it if works the results speak for themselves.

The director & writer team for THE DIRT (Jeff Tremaine & Amanda Adelson) were the luminaries who brought us BAD GRANDPA, with DL-fave Zac Efron.

R1 that should have been Pamela Anderson.

Motley Cure biopic ... sorry, can't get past that.

damn spell check. I kind of like it though.

Like a one-act play where Robert Smith & Vince Neil take tea together while a maelstrom of performance art happens around them. It’s Off-Broadway, of course.

R10 who would you have cast as Nikki?

I like Jordan Brower for Nikki in his prime (he just needs dyed hair) & Noah Wylie for mature Nikki, as he is now. Perhaps Giuseppe Andrews for a younger Tommy & Jason London for the older? Josh Peck could do Ricki Rachtman in a grimly satirical way. Joey Lauren Adams for a grown Pam Anderson & Jami Gertz for Roxy Shirazi....

I want Rory Cochrane in his thing even though he’s way too good for it...he could play Blackie, I guess. He’s already been in SUNSET STRIP so he knows a rock-doc.

Who will play Mick Mars, who was a good 10 to 15 years older than the rest of the band?

Mick is tough to cast. How about Joaquin Phoenix or John Cusack as older Mars?

I need Gabby Hoffman in this as someone’s agent. Maybe Vince Neil’s attorney.

I never understood the umlauts in the band name. Don’t they render the pronunciation “Muttley Crow?”. Luckily ‘dirt’ is easy to say.

R17, I love your choices for a younger and older Nikki. As matter of fact, your casting choices are pretty damn good. Who would you pick for Vince Neil?

Hey, thanks R10. Cool to know someone is on the same page as me. We’re all kinda ad hoc in this thread but it’s interesting to see what ideas different posters agree on.

Biopics are the one film genre where Casting sometimes do prioritise verisimilitude to the role & natural talent on camera over more highly trained or well-known ‘famous’ actors, purely because the format demands that the actors chosen come across as very recognisable people.

Jordan Brower looks & sounds far closer to the ‘real’ Nikki than Douglas Booth, IMO, and his ‘quieter’ acting is a better fit for Nikki’s personality. Brower has also been laying low in the world of acting for over a decade so he wouldn’t be recognisable to the majority of viewers. Jordan is also just a very good actor (underrated, if you ask me).

As for Vince Neil...was hoping no-one would notice I’d left him out. That’s a tough one.

He is the most difficult Crue member to cast as his physiology is unusual; very short & very feminine in the face (but not in demeanour) and his energy vacillates so wildly between elated & depressed. Before ‘Mad Men’ I might have chosen Vincent Kartheiser for older Vince, but Kartheiser is tied to the Don Draper character now.

Vince Neil also goes through the wringer when it comes to his life story so you need an actor who can play that with sensitivity. A strong chemistry is a must between Vince and Nikki, as well as Tommy & Pam. Perhaps Jesse Bradford would work as older Vince (with dyed hair) as he’s already worked closely opposite Jordan Brower.

Idk, this part is hellish to cast well.

Liam Aiken would make a cute Tracii Guns.

Someone on FicWad years ago wrote a fanfic about the hypothetical actors playing Vince & Nikki on this project becoming adorable snuggly boyfriends. I tracked it down for DL edification (linked below).

Who will play Nikki’s closet?

JGL for Razzle! You know it makes sense.

Guess Nikki has to fund his lifestyle somehow, now that ‘Sixx Sense’ has been booted from SiriusXM..

Who asked for this

They could toss a fright wig on a skeleton and call it Mick Mars

The Dirt was a huge best seller. MC has sold millions of records and concert tickets. Of course there is an audience for a bio pic.

[quote] They could toss a fright wig on a skeleton and call it Mick Mars.

[quote] The Dirt was a huge bestseller. MC has sold millions of records and concert tickets. Of course there is an audience.

R30 How nice of you to join us this evening, Nikki. We do hope you’re enjoying your stay. We do typically frown upon shill & trolling on the Datalounge, but being as you are - an artisti of historical magnitude - we can hardly ignore your pithy comments.

One does wonder if the scathing remark you make about Mick Mars’ age is entirely necessary (ageing a rather sensitive topic, here) but given your notorious dry wit we shall take said remark in the spirit intended.

Do pass along all our love & admiring regards to Tommy & to his strapping sons. And, if we may be so bold, at our urging please do pick up the phone to Vince this New Year and reconnect. ‘Tis the season.

They would get this movie done & done fast making it via the LifeTime Channel. Just sayin.

Was Motley Crue ever really considered an important band in the annals of rock? They seem like just another drug, alcohol and sex addled California band, nothing special at all. The singer, who is usually the focal point in any band, was nothing to write home about, a short fat smarmy guy of Mexican descent who dyed his hair blonde.

If someone wants to make a film about a California band, Jane's Addiction were more important and a ton more interesting. Perry Farrell and his girlfriend at the time, Casey Niccoli, were so fucked up on drugs, when their clothes got dirty, they'd just go to and buy new clothing. That's not very shocking but it's funny. Also, Jane's seemed like more intelligent band. I sure enjoyed their music better than Motley's heavy metal re-thread bullshit.

Jane's were as controversial as Motley Crue. Even more so, because there was always an air of mystery about Jane's. Fans weren't really sure if all the gossip was true, much in the same way Led Zeppelin maintained their mysterious aura.

[quote] Perry Farrell and his girlfriend at the time, Casey Niccoli, were so fucked up on drugs, when their clothes got dirty, they'd just go to and buy new clothing. That's not very shocking but it's funny.

In College I had a disaffected & very depressed lesbian dormmate who used to do the same. She’d wear her clothes, turning them inside out until they reeked, then toss them and raid the thrift stores for more.

R33 you’re right, I can think of several L.A. Strip bands off the top of my head that would make for a better biopic than Crue who were successful but also extremely derivative. I think exploring the burgeoning punkscene in the Hills at that time would make more sense; like how about a Black Flag movie?

Vince Neil has had a pretty crazy life all on his own, though, so a film about just his life would work. Or The Tommy & Pam Story which I’m surprised hasn’t been optioned already.

I'm not a Californian, but I can also think of more interesting bands than Motley Crue who deserve biopic, besides Jane's, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and definitely a bio-pic about the California punk bands and even bands such as X and Concrete Blond. and what about Henry Rollins.

Dave Navarro is a real character too. Now he's into this suspension shit!

Concrete Blonde biopic? R37 you are speaking my language!

Johnette is my Goddess lesbian guru and she needs a movie. She’d say no to it, probably, though.

LOVE Johnette's voice, she's always been one of my faves.

Who could play her?

The script is been around for over 12 years and it's really marvelous. I'm sure it's available somewhere on the Internet but if you've only read the book I wouldn't make any assumptions about what characters or stories are included. Also Jeff Tremaine did the brilliant bad grandpa. The shitty Zac Efron movie was called dirty grandpa.

Besides Douglas Booth as Nikki Sixx, Machine Gun Kelly has been cast as Tommy Lee, Iwan Rheon as Mick Mars and Daniel Webber as Vince Neil.

I do know Iwan Rheon does perform music so he might be good as Mick Mars. I don’t know much about Machine Gun Kelly but he seems to fit the look of Tommy Lee. I know nothing about Daniel Webber, so no idea if he makes a good Vince. I still have a hard time seeing Booth as Nikki Sixx though

What's Mötley Crüe?

Are they going to have the actor who plays Tommy drop his pants to ensure he's big enough for the role?

How are they possibly going to find actors who sing as bad as Motley Crue?

I love how much they sucked back then R44.

Like you heard that out-of-tune guitar, Nikki’s egregious basslines and then Vince going “ablbablghlglADLLGHLBBALALALAAA” and you know it’s Crue time.

[quote] The Tommy & Pam Story, which I’m surprised hasn’t been optioned already.

This SCREAMS LifeTime.

Who could play their hot son Dylan?

R40 hey Nikki, how’s tricks?

“‘Shout at the Devil’? A five year-old could write that on a Xylophone.”

- Bill Burr

Victor Rasuk has to play Slash. HAS to. America Ferrara must play his hysterical Madame wife Perla.

GN’R don’t need to feature in The Dirt. They were on the same scene as Crue and came up in the same way, but took that ball and ran with it in the opposite direction.

Nikki never wrote much about them, and Crue only ever did half a tour with them (which was a last-minute arrangement). Both bands fell out soon after, catalysed by Vince & Axl’s petty passive-aggressive catfighting that made the nightly news.

Slash et al. warrant a passing reference as an Easter egg, or a cameo at the utmost.

Who is going to play the burrito that Motley Crue gangbanged?

Only Crue would solve a problem by sticking their dick in something...else.

I hope the scene where Nikki & Vince almost have a threesome makes the cut.

Douglas Booth is sooooo miscast

I can’t see Dougie as Nikki. It’s like casting an angel to play the part of a demon.

Never got the appeal of this band or their type of horrible shit 'music'.

There's some amazing rock music out there, TONS of it, Motley Crue were never it! Bands like this becoming so popular totally convince me there are way too many sheepish imbeciles out there. This band and KISS, it's just horrendous tone-deaf garbage.

I want to hate them & their entire catalogue but even I have to admit that Motley have had a handful of fun kickass rock tunes that are so catchy you can’t ever forget them.

‘Wild Side’ & ‘Primal Scream’ are basic as all hell but they always get my blood going. ‘Animal in Me’ is actually pretty sexy in spite of itself. ‘Looks That Kill’ has got something, ‘Same Ol’ Situation’ still makes me laugh. ‘If I Die Tomorrow’ can be poignant at times.

There’s no atoning for ‘Shout At The Devil’ or ‘Kickstart My Heart’, though. Awful.

Also while the majority of that band are vile individuals, Tommy Lee is genuinely a sweet & charming man. Everyone reports him humble, friendly and kind which is unheard of for rockstars of his notoriety and with his, uh, largesse. Pamela can’t be wrong!

Scratch that. Tommy beats on his sons and one is a beautiful possible-gay twink. No Bueno.

And why is Nikki so PANDERING and GROSS? He's rumoured to be bisexual but do we even want him?

The Datalounge crowd isn’t exactly the target audience for Motley Crue or their movie. “Why don’t they make a movie about Melissa Manchester instead! Waaah!”

LOL

R32 hey Feldog, loved your movie.

Is Tommy doing cameo.com videos now? Surely he doesn't need to hawk shit for money now that Pam took off and he cut his sons off...

^^forgot link, sorry.

First trailer

I'm shocked they left out Vanity. She was part of Nikki's craziest year in 1987 as his gf. While he was already strung out on most drugs, she introduced him to freebasing

R64 yIKES. That looks worse than the made-for-tv Leppard biopic they did 12 years ago, and even though that had Anthony Michael-Hall as Mutt Lange (and he did great) there was almost nothing to recommend about it.

This show airing means that more people with read/buy the book (‘The Dirt’). Now, that seems like a drawback, but actually it will expose the scummy behaviour of these assholes in the light of a new generation who actually don’t tolerate rape and battery and abuse of women & minors. I think if kids watch this MC are going to find this hurts more than helps their careers.

Some asshole parked outside my store today was blasting 'Wild Side' out of his jalopy.

MC covered 'Like A Virgin' for THE DIRT OST. I...wish I was kidding. Vince vocals aren't even poor, it's just..ugh.

This shitshow will be out March 22nd and I feel like we should deliberately enjoy these last days before it drops.

Nikki and Jon Bon Jovi famously fucked a number of years ago, R59. In front of a crowd apparently.

I don't think JBJ would have emerged such an encounter unscathed, R70. Nikki can hardly be called sensitive.

WHY are these assholes even relevant, they have been over for long time.

Motley Crue's music isn't the type of pop or rock which will remain memorable for future generations. Horrible music and a horrible image. Who cares.

If anyone calls this the “Feelgood hit of the year!” or some such I will pitch more than a tv through a window. No-one asked for this.

R69 Oh my! This has the potential to become a camp classic.

Was it rape-rape, R71?

Crüe will just never be the calibre of a Judas Priest or some such, no matter how much they want to be.