Musicians are the new superheroes.
At least at the movies, where superhero movies have cooled off and music biopics are flooding the marketplace like a new version of the Avengers.
Just last week, news came that a Britney Spears biopic is in the works. Last month saw the debut of the first trailer for “A Complete Unknown” — starring Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan — which is slated to hit theaters before the year is up. And 2024 has already seen big screen biopics of Bob Marley (“Bob Marley: One Love”), Amy Winehouse (“Back to Black”) and, er, Kneecap (the relatively unknown Irish hip-hop group is the subject of a new film which hit theaters this week).
And we’re not even to the chorus yet. In various states of production are biopics on Michael Jackson (“Michael” is due out next year), the Beatles (four films, one for each member, are due in 2027), Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Linda Ronstadt, the Bee Gees, Carole King, Boy George, Keith Moon, Billy Joel and Dionne Warwick.
What’s going on? (That’s a question, not a reference to the Dr. Dre-produced Marvin Gaye biopic, which is in a state of turnaround.) The short answer is “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the 2018 Queen biopic, which won four Oscars, grossed nearly $1 billion, reinvigorated Queen’s catalog and kicked down the door on the music biopic genre.