Good job Ben Affleck, now every actor is going to want to direct; The Hollywood Reporter brings us news that Cary Elwes is stepping into the director’s chair to helm a movie based on the life of the late Kit Lambert, the man who discovered and then became the manager of The Who, one of the biggest and most legendary rock bands of the 60’s and 70’s.
The yet to be titled movie was written by former Mojo Magazine editor Pat Gilbert and for those of you worried, you can climb off the ledge: Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, the founding members of The Who, have signed off on the project so you’ll get your soundtrack full of classic Who tunes. Production is slated to begin late next Spring.
Lambert’s life was an interesting one; initially he was a filmmaker and after deciding to make a movie based around an unknown music group with fellow director Chris Stamp, ended up discovering The Who were then known as The High Numbers. He ended up leaving filmmaking altogether and became The Who’s manager (and later producer), even creating his own record label Track Records which housed an impressive stable of artists including another man currently getting his own biopic of sorts Jimi Hendrix.
Lambert was also responsible for The Who’s transition into more experimental sounds which eventually resulted in the 1969 album Tommy, a rock opera about a deaf, dumb, and blind man who unwittingly becomes a messianic leader. Lambert was eventually fired in 1971 after trying to shop the film rights to Tommy without the band’s approval (it ended up becoming a movie in 1975 anyway) and from there his life spiraled out of control into drugs and alcohol, eventually becoming a ward of the court in England until his death in 1981.
Is that a life that justifies a big screen adaptation? Absolutely. The Who are an influential group with an interesting body of work so Lambert’s dealings with them alone make it worthwhile. Add in his notorious personal issues and you’ve got yourself a full-on movie (one that’ll end on a somber note, but I digress). I’m definitely interested in seeing this come to fruition and to see if Elwes has the chops to be a director (especially since his Elvis & Nixon seems to have fallen apart); I’m an unabashed fan of his acting (obviously I mean Robin Hood: Men in Tights and not that obscure fairy tale one with Andre the Giant) and I want to see him succeed. Plus, maybe he’ll even find a way to get on the soundtrack; check out this little ditty from the summer’s biggest and not hated at all success The Oogieloves.
Any interest in a Kit Lambert biopic? Does Cary Elwes have what it takes to be a director?