Directing legend Martin Scorsese is rumoured to be linked with a forthcoming biopic about the life and music of ’70s punk legends The Ramones, which will mark the 40th anniversary of their debut album.
As reported by Billboard, the 71-year-old director, whose resumé includes Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, The Departed, Goodfellas and The Wolf Of Wall Street, is tipped to direct a movie about the original lineup of the seminal New York band which consisted of Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy Ramone.
The yet-to-be-confirmed biopic is reportedly set for release in 2016 to mark the 40th anniversary of the band’s 1976 self-titled debut album and their much-loved debut single “Blitzkrieg Bop”.
While not confirming the film, the Ramones’ estate manager Jeff Jampol, who is also the estate handler for the likes of The Doors, Janis Joplin, Tupac Shakur and Otis Redding, told Billboard many potential projects are being considered to celebrate the 40-year milestone.
“The 40th anniversary of the Ramones is coming up in 2016, that’s when the first album came out. So we have a lot of projects leading up to that. We’re looking at a documentary on the Ramones, we just secured a ton of footage, much of which has never been seen before,” he says. “It came from the Ramones on the road over the years in the Seventies and a little bit in the Eighties, from a gentleman who had shot them, his name is George Seminara.”
The Ramones last living band member, original drummer Tommy, died in July this year. Lead singer Joey, bassist Dee Dee and guitarist Johnny died in 2001, 2002 and 2004 respectively.
Scorsese is currently linked to Silence, his long-awaited opus centered around two 17th Century Jesuit priests facing persecution in Japan.
