A film version of the infamous Motley Crue tell-all autobiography The Dirt has been in production for over a decade. Jackass director Jeff Tremaine has been attached to direct since 2013.
It looks like the wheels are finally turning and the movie is in the pre-production phase. The script was written by Amanda Adelson, Tom Kapinos, and Rich Wilkes, with each Crue member also getting writing credits on the film. Tommy Lee tweeted yesterday that pre-production is underway and that shooting begins in February:
Hey kids! Good news!!! The Motley Crüe movie “The Dirt” has begun pre production! Starts shooting in Feb! Here we go!!!
— T?mmy L33 (@MrTommyLand) January 18, 2018
Additionally, rapper Machine Gun Kelly has confirmed he has been cast as drummer Motley Crue in the film. MGK noted his little brother is going to be teaching him drums and he is looking to finish his new album before shooting begins.
and it’s finally announced. ?? excuse me for being crass but….HOLY FUCKING SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!! ?? @variety ?? @netflix @MrTommyLand pic.twitter.com/rEbUi3MjUG
— Blonde Don (@machinegunkelly) January 19, 2018
i got the movie to hire my little bro as my drum teacher. kept it in the family. ?? i WILL learn the drums and finish the new album before we start filming.
— Blonde Don (@machinegunkelly) January 19, 2018
According to IMDB, English actor Douglas Booth has been cast as bassist Nikki Sixx:
Blabbermouth notes in a 2016 interview on SiriusXM, Sixx explained all the delays:
"Some different companies are really interested. But it's a slow-moving process. It's beyond [being] in development. We're changing partners. I know that [N.W.A.'s hit biopic] 'Straight Outta Compton' took over eleven years to put together. It's a slow-moving thing."
He continued: "I don't wanna really be involved in something that's just piecemealed together just to say, 'We did it!' You know, one of those VH1 rock movies you see like on Meat Loaf. It's not what we wanted. We think that the story's actually more important than… more important than, actually, the band. It's a really interesting story. It's not really just about girls pulling their pants down in the bathroom and us snorting blow off their asses; there's a bigger story to it. You're gonna get less of that. You're gonna see that, because that happened, but there's a really beautiful story, and it's really about a gang that climbed the mountain together and pulled each other up to the top of the mountain when everybody else didn't believe in them, and then imploded at the top."
Tommy Lee explained to GMI Rock News in 2014 the surreal experience of attending a read-through of the film:
"Can I tell you it was the most fucking insanely surreal experience I've ever sat through, y'know. I sat through probably two hours and change of literally watching people act and play through this two-hour-plus movie of your… of 30 years of your life that went by in two hours, and I was just like, 'What the fuck?! That's insane. This movie is insane.' Even just the way the movie starts, you're like, 'How the hell are we gonna rate this thing, triple R?'"
This seems to be the year of metal books turned into movies. In addition to The Dirt, a movie based on the 90s black metal memoir Lords of Chaos is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival later this month.
