I’m putting this story under “rumor.” I only have a single source to back it up, I could not double source it.
Here what I’ve been told: Recently, a call went out for a caucasian actor in his early to mid 30s with the ability to sing, have moderate experience in playing the guitar and be fine with nudity. This project has been buzzing around for sometime, but the details had been enveloped, its knowledge only with the top players.
Yesterday, some newfound details, firsthand, that align with the casting call. A John Lennon biopic has been in development for months and is eying to enter production as soon as the strike ends.
The film would focus on the immediate period after the Beatles breakup, tackling Lennon's solo career and his relationship with Yoko Ono. Ono has acted as a consultant and is attatched as a producer, alongside filmmaker Craig Gillespie.
It was Gillespie's attachment that ballooned up the production budget. The film is said to be an intimate portrayal of Lennon’s post-Beatles life.
Gillespie, best known for his highly-stylized “I, Tonya,” “Lars and the Real Girl,” “Cruella” and the upcoming “Dumb Money,” would be a peculiar choice to direct. He’s talented, but will he be writing the screenplay? Not a chance. He doesn’t write his own films.
With the recent influx of musical biopics we’ve had, tackling the likes of Bob Dylan, Queen, Whitney Houston, Bob Marley, Elvis, Aretha Franklin, Elton John and Biggie Smalls, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Lennon might be the next one to get the same treatment.
As far as I know, there hasn’t really been a movie made about Lennon’s tumultuous post-Beatles life. 2009’s “Nowhere Boy,” starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a young Lennon, was mostly about the former Beatles childhood.