In his 2004 memoir, Scar Tissue, the stories of drug addiction and unusual relationships by Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis‘ have been optioned by Universal Pictures to develop into a biopic.
To be produced by Kiedis, Chilis manager Guy Oseary, and Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13,) one of the greatest rock memoirs of all time, could provide a story that’s far darker than most music biopics.
Written in conjunction with Larry Sloman, Anthony’s book addressed his father, who introduced him to drugs, the death of founding Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak of a heroin overdose, the myriad of relationships he had over the years, and how he and bassist Flea kept the iconic rock group going throughout the turmoil.
In his 2016 interview with England’s The Sun the band’s frontman admitted that he initially regretted the book’s tell-all nature.
“I did regret the book for a while as there was some pain caused.” “But then, I started seeing the long term positive reverberating. People were reading it in hospitals, in prisons and schools and it was having a positive effect. I realized that the whole point of writing that book wasn’t for me, but to show that somebody can go all the way down and come all the way back and have a productive, successful happy interesting life.’he initially regretted the book’s tell-all nature. “I did regret the book for a while as there was some pain caused,” he said. “But then, I started seeing the long term positive reverberating. People were reading it in hospitals, in prisons and schools and it was having a positive effect. I realized that the whole point of writing that book wasn’t for me, but to show that somebody can go all the way down and come all the way back and have a productive, successful happy interesting life.” “And so whatever shame, pain or difficulty or discomfort I went through,” he continued, “then it was worth it because I get so many people coming up to me saying their kids had read it and got their act together because of it,” stated Kiedis.
Not the first music biopic to make its way to the big screen over the last ten years, Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), which told Queen’s story, grossed $216,000,000+ domestically, the N.W.A film Straight Outta Compton (2015) brought in $161,000,000+, Elvis (2022) made $150,000,000+, and the Elton John flick Rocketman (2019) grossed $96,000,000+ .
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Leon Wilson