It looks like Billboard might have gotten a scoop when interviewing Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee. It appears that Rob Zombie will be directing the long-in-the-works film version of the band’s epic autobiography, The Dirt — Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band. The film came up in the context of when there might be new music from the Crue, with Lee saying that the film or a soundtrack for it might be a good way to showcase some new tunes.
“That would be a cool place to release some new music,” Lee notes. “It gives new reason for new music. People aren’t really buying records these days, so it seems like a good place to maybe put something new from us.”
But wait, what? Zombie directing The Dirt? That’s way bigger of a story than when we might be getting some new songs we don’t care about from Motley Crue. On the one hand, it’s a little strange that Zombie, an East Coaster who was learning his chops at CBGB’s while Motley Crue was headlining arenas, would be pegged to direct a movie about the L.A. glam rockers. Not to mention that Zombie’s only made horror movies and done animation so far. On the other hand, Zombie’s years as a rock star of his own, first in White Zombie and then as a solo artist, have probably taught him a lot about excess, the rise to the top, and life on the road. Not to mention, Zombie loves capturing white trash, and there’s probably no one better to bring the depravity of some of the book to life.
But another question is, what’s the tone of the movie going to be? There’s been talk of a film version of the book since it was released a decade ago. At one point, MTV films had the rights to it, and Borat/Curb Your Enthusiasm director/producer Larry Charles was set to direct. Will the film still be a comedy, or will it be darker? Will there be scenes involving Sheri Moon Zombie or slow motion shootouts scored to classic rock songs? Really, the Crue’s story could have all of those elements. It could be four Borats in a band, or like Entourage, but with a band. Or it could be like American Psycho, but with four Patrick Batemans, even though only one of them kills people. I guess we’ll have to stay tuned.
