Warner Bros. Aborted Led Zeppelin Movie Project

[Deborah J]

Strider, what a great opportunity to have the discussion with Mr. Helgeland! I personally am glad there is no movie. It would end up more about the drugs and partying (of course)...instead of making it truly about the music and those four musicians along with Peter Grant and Mr. Ahmet Ertegun.  

There are so many documentaries (unauthorized) out there already. I have to stand with Robert on this one as well:-)

Great story,thanks for sharing and hope you enjoyed the movie. You know I love Tom Hardy as an actor:-)  

[Anjin-san]

A big-screen adaptation of Hammer of the Gods... that's what, and who can blame him for not wanting any part in that?  Percy knows EXACTLY what kind of film it would have ended up being, imagine The Wolf of Wall Street  with longer hair...

So what?

Like I said before,a great screenplay about the band and music would be fookin' great.

BTW,HOTG can't be adapted,10+ years har,har,ha!

[Anjin-san]

Did you write it?Really?!?

[mstork]

A big-screen adaptation of Hammer of the Gods... that's what, and who can blame him for not wanting any part in that?  Percy knows EXACTLY what kind of film it would have ended up being, imagine The Wolf of Wall Street  with longer hair...

Robert is afraid they'd cast Jonah Hill as him?!?  

[Strider]

I wouldn't worry, it read well

As always, you are very kind.

Personally, a movie based on the presence era could work.

I was just talking the other day with a friend and we were discussing the problem with doing biopics involving famous people or bands. If you try to do the entire history, the whole story-arc usually becomes bogged down and facts and details get lost in the process. But a specific event is more feasible and practical. 

My general stance has always been a Led Zeppelin feature film would never work. You could never cast the band correctly (Honestly...who could play Jimmy and Robert in their Arthurian glory?) and the band's story and mythology is just too huge to tackle in conventional Hollywood form. What I did tell my friend is that if you just focused on a bite-sized chunk of their story...say, Robert's accident in Greece and the struggle to record "Presence" and get healthy enough to get back on the road...maybe that could work. Or the time Jimmy and Robert got away from the Led Zeppelin II-induced heavy-metal mania surrounding the band and retreated to Snowdonia to get to know each other and find out if they could write songs and take their music in a different direction. The movie could end with their triumphant appearance at the 1970 Bath Festival.

[kingzoso]

As always, you are very kind.

I was just talking the other day with a friend and we were discussing the problem with doing biopics involving famous people or bands. If you try to do the entire history, the whole story-arc usually becomes bogged down and facts and details get lost in the process. But a specific event is more feasible and practical. 

My general stance has always been a Led Zeppelin feature film would never work. You could never cast the band correctly (Honestly...who could play Jimmy and Robert in their Arthurian glory?) and the band's story and mythology is just too huge to tackle in conventional Hollywood form. What I did tell my friend is that if you just focused on a bite-sized chunk of their story...say, Robert's accident in Greece and the struggle to record "Presence" and get healthy enough to get back on the road...maybe that could work. Or the time Jimmy and Robert got away from the Led Zeppelin II-induced heavy-metal mania surrounding the band and retreated to Snowdonia to get to know each other and find out if they could write songs and take their music in a different direction. The movie could end with their triumphant appearance at the 1970 Bath Festival.

I said as much on the first page of this topic that a movie about Led Zeppelin would never work or happen.  With such a valued and historical 12 year history and reign as the Greatest Band of the 1970's, Led Zeppelin is without equal.  There is no way on Earth that Their musical career and personal lives could be formatted into a 3 hour movie.  I do not even think that a certain starting or ending point could be made into a movie.  No offense, but a movie about Led Zeppelin ending with Their appearance at the Bath Festival is absurd.  Would that ending scene include Santana, the Flock, Jefferson Airplane, Canned Heat, Pink Floyd, etc... that also performed at Bath? 

Along with non-performers that were also in attendance, such as Mick Bonham, Richard Cole, Peter Grant, Julie Felix, Roy Harper, etc...?

[The Old Hermit]

Robert is afraid they'd cast Jonah Hill as him?!?  

Nope, Jonah Hill would be Bonzo, Leo DiCaprio would be Percy ...

[KellyGirl]

This would've been cool, however at the same time what's the point in a Led Zeppelin film if your not going to go ALL in.

The good, bad, downright dirty and ugly is part of this band. Yes the music was the basis behind it all, but at the same time
to depict a truthful inside look then it would be unrealistic to pretend the 4 gathered at Burger King to have milkshakes with
fries after a 3.5 hr gig at the LA Forum. Or pretend the Whiskey was filled with the Sunday church crowd, or make Lori 25
and pretend Jimmy had her in his hotel room so he could show off his stamp collection? Ha,ha NOT

Sex and drugs were part of the rock 'n' roll. Beatings in Oakland, life changing events like car accidents, child death, mobster
thug like security guards, booze, drugs and easy women etc etc. Music always takes the front seat, but the 4 of them didn't
live or act like monks during those 12 years.

And lastly time wise so much happened from 1968-1980. A 2 hr movie wouldn't do it justice. Not to mention there's too
many shaded gray areas that won't be told until posthumously with the band members. Jimmy giving the green light on this
puzzles the heck out of me. Considering how private he is with so many facets of his life. (nothing wrong with that) Page must
have been giving the green light for the Walt Disney version of a Led Zeppelin film. LOL

[Melcórë]

I think the only film that would ever "work" -- and that would meet with the approval of the band, if possible -- would be one that told their story through the music. An album-by-album, song-by-song exploration. Page's best interviews are the ones where people actually ask him about the music -- he lights up and, most importantly, opens up.

[IpMan]

This would've been cool, however at the same time what's the point in a Led Zeppelin film if your not going to go ALL in.

The good, bad, downright dirty and ugly is part of this band. Yes the music was the basis behind it all, but at the same time
to depict a truthful inside look then it would be unrealistic to pretend the 4 gathered at Burger King to have milkshakes with
fries after a 3.5 hr gig at the LA Forum. Or pretend the Whiskey was filled with the Sunday church crowd, or make Lori 25
and pretend Jimmy had her in his hotel room so he could show off his stamp collection? Ha,ha NOT

 

That would be Rush

[Disco Duck]

That would be Rush

I didn't know that Rush has a reputation for clean living while on tour; at least not back in the day.  

[IpMan]

I didn't know that Rush has a reputation for clean living while on tour; at least not back in the day.  

Oh yes, you should check out their bio-movie on Netflix, very interesting. To say the boys from Rush were saints in regard to the rock star lifestyle would be an understatement! They talk about touring with Kiss in 75" and how after shows they (Rush) would go back to the hotel room and watch TV while the boys from Kiss would be about debauching.

[Melcórë]

Oh yes, you should check out their bio-movie on Netflix, very interesting. To say the boys from Rush were saints in regard to the rock star lifestyle would be an understatement! They talk about touring with Kiss in 75" and how after shows they (Rush) would go back to the hotel room and watch TV while the boys from Kiss would be about debauching.

I know someone who could personally refute that claim, at least somewhat. They might not have been into the drug scene, but they had fun if you catch my drift.

[IpMan]

I know someone who could personally refute that claim, at least somewhat. They might not have been into the drug scene, but they had fun if you catch my drift.

Oh I am sure, but to compare what Rush were doing after gigs (in hotel room high on weed and Molson, banging some local girls) is a far cry from what their contemporaries like Zep, Alice Cooper, The Who it is almost a different universe. The Rush guys were just doing what most working class Canadian guys do on an average weekend, nothing more, however the others were downright Vikings on a rampage laying waste to whole cities like some modern mutant offspring of a Mongol Horde & a John Waters movie.

[Melcórë]

Oh I am sure, but to compare what Rush were doing after gigs (in hotel room high on weed and Molson, banging some local girls) is a far cry from what their contemporaries like Zep, Alice Cooper, The Who it is almost a different universe. The Rush guys were just doing what most working class Canadian guys do on an average weekend, nothing more, however the others were downright Vikings on a rampage laying waste to whole cities like some modern mutant offspring of a Mongol Horde & a John Waters movie.

[Sathington Willoughby]

I didn't know that Rush has a reputation for clean living while on tour; at least not back in the day.  

Oh yes, you should check out their bio-movie on Netflix, very interesting. To say the boys from Rush were saints in regard to the rock star lifestyle would be an understatement! They talk about touring with Kiss in 75" and how after shows they (Rush) would go back to the hotel room and watch TV while the boys from Kiss would be about debauching.

[dazedjeffy]

I wouldn't worry, it read well

http://www.led-zeppelin.org/current-news/1871-warner-bros-aborted-1988-led-zeppelin-movie-project

[bluecongo]

I think HBO should a Zep mini series.  Like 8 hour long installments.

 

now THAT could be interesting.

 

benedict cumberbatch as Jimmy

 

[Donna Johnson]

It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that Percy ended up being the "stick in the mud" for this project!  He appears to have a long running HABIT of saying "NO!!" to anyone or anything that may throw light on how more involvement HE may have had in what has been customarily put on Page!  I find it quite disgusting that Robert Plant constantly "pisses" on Page's shoes at EVERY GIVEN OPPORTUNITY! Apparently, he was raised to "bite the hand that MADE HIM FAMOUS!"

[Disco Duck]

I think HBO should a Zep mini series.  Like 8 hour long installments.

 

now THAT could be interesting.

 

benedict cumberbatch as Jimmy

 

Casting could be the most difficult part about any Led Zeppelin film or mini-series.  In many films based on real people, looks don't necessarily matter.  How many feature films about George Washington cast an actor who looks anything like the famous portrait?  However, it's different when the persons being portrayed are still living and are highly visible public figures. 

[Disco Duck]

It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that Percy ended up being the "stick in the mud" for this project!  He appears to have a long running HABIT of saying "NO!!" to anyone or anything that may throw light on how more involvement HE may have had in what has been customarily put on Page!  I find it quite disgusting that Robert Plant constantly "pisses" on Page's shoes at EVERY GIVEN OPPORTUNITY! Apparently, he was raised to "bite the hand that MADE HIM FAMOUS!"

Maybe bands are like families with each band member playing a designated non-musical role.  Band Member 1 is the voice of reason.  Band Member 2 is the wild and crazy guy.  Etc.  Perhaps preventing Led Zeppelin from becoming too highly commercialized is or was Robert Plant's non-musical role within the band.  

[KellyGirl]

The Rush stuff is hilarious, hahaha!

What is John Paul Jones'  roll when it comes to this stuff? Does it basically come down to Jimmy
and Plant making the decision, or does Jonesy have a say? He seems to be a go with the flow kind
of guy when it comes to Zeppelin projects.

At the same time I can see somebody asking if they should consult John Paul Jones and the person getting
a puzzled look on their face, as if to say: Uh errr why, All of L Z decisions are made by Jimmy and Plant.
Which to me is quite unnerving since it would be deciding whether a movie is made about a band he was part of.
I know with writing Jimmy holds the cards for the bulk of that, but for movies and stuff I wonder if J P J has a voice.
Maybe the two are related?

[The Only Way To Fly]

It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that Percy ended up being the "stick in the mud" for this project!  He appears to have a long running HABIT of saying "NO!!" to anyone or anything that may throw light on how more involvement HE may have had in what has been customarily put on Page!  I find it quite disgusting that Robert Plant constantly "pisses" on Page's shoes at EVERY GIVEN OPPORTUNITY! Apparently, he was raised to "bite the hand that MADE HIM FAMOUS!"

While our memories of Zeppelin and the music are what they are (great concerts, parties, high school, whatever) - think of what they may be for the guy who lived it? Like a marriage that falls apart, it was great in the beginning and middle, but 10 years gone and a LOT of heavy shit had gone down between 1968 - 1980. I don't blame Plant one bit for leaving and closing that door for good.  

Think about it, with all the drama, drugs, shenanigans, fist fights, cops, groupies, hangers on, lawyers, running a record label/business, the death of a child, the death of your best mate, a tragic car accident, and collapse of your own marriage to name a few.... no doubt the music was great... and I liken it to this..... I mean I love my kids more than anything in the world, but don't really care to spend any more time than I have too with my EX-wife... 

[Disco Duck]

The Rush stuff is hilarious, hahaha!

What is John Paul Jones'  roll when it comes to this stuff? Does it basically come down to Jimmy
and Plant making the decision, or does Jonesy have a say? He seems to be a go with the flow kind
of guy when it comes to Zeppelin projects.

At the same time I can see somebody asking if they should consult John Paul Jones and the person getting
a puzzled look on their face, as if to say: Uh errr why, All of L Z decisions are made by Jimmy and Plant.
Which to me is quite unnerving since it would be deciding whether a movie is made about a band he was part of.
I know with writing Jimmy holds the cards for the bulk of that, but for movies and stuff I wonder if J P J has a voice.
Maybe the two are related?

My understanding (someone correct me if I'm wrong) is that the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin and John Bonham's estate all have an equal say in matters involving the band's catalog, name or merchandising.  Also, John Paul Jones was always a full Led Zeppelin band member, unlike Plant and Bonham who were on salary for the first year or so.  JPJ (along with Jimmy Page and Peter Grant) contributed the seed money to get the band off the ground.  

Page knew JPJ long before he met Robert Plant.  They both worked as session musicians in London during the early to mid 1960's.  Page knew that JPJ was a first rate bass player and a skilled musical arranger because they had worked on some of the same sessions before he joined The Yardbirds. JPJ's arrangements played a big role in Led Zeppelin's distinctive sound.  Plant was Zep's front man and lyricist but JPJ probably exercised more creative control.  

[Daniel]

It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that Percy ended up being the "stick in the mud" for this project!  He appears to have a long running HABIT of saying "NO!!" to anyone or anything that may throw light on how more involvement HE may have had in what has been customarily put on Page!  I find it quite disgusting that Robert Plant constantly "pisses" on Page's shoes at EVERY GIVEN OPPORTUNITY! Apparently, he was raised to "bite the hand that MADE HIM FAMOUS!"

OMG! Jimmy, is that you?