IoMP 176: Metal Bands/Artists That Deserve Their Own Biopic
Bohemian Rhapsody brought Queen to the big screen. The Dirt tackled the insanity of Mötley Crüe. Metal has decades of legendary stories left to tell—so which ones should Hollywood tackle next?
This week on the Influencers of Metal Podcast, Collin and Tom are casting aside the documentaries and imagining the metal biopics they actually want to see.
First up is Ronnie James Dio, whose journey through Rainbow, Black Sabbath and ultimately Dio gives the guys plenty of material to work with. Tom even starts figuring out the actual structure of the movie, while Collin mostly wonders why nobody has made the damn thing already.
Then there's Ozzy Osbourne. His career practically writes the screenplay itself—but it creates an even more important question: who the hell could convincingly play Ozzy? Naturally, the casting discussion immediately goes off the rails.
Rob Halford offers another compelling possibility, with his personal struggles, departure and eventual return to Judas Priest giving a potential movie much more to explore than simply recreating concerts. The question becomes whether it should really be a Judas Priest movie—or a Rob Halford movie with Judas Priest at the centre of it.
But not every great biopic needs to be about one of metal's biggest names.
Tom champions The Ghost Inside, arguing that the band's recovery and eventual return following a devastating tour bus crash has everything necessary for an emotional story about loss, friendship, perseverance and returning to music.
The wishlist keeps growing with Chuck Schuldiner and Death, Peter Steele, and Dave Mustaine, whose post-Metallica rise with Megadeth practically begs for the ultimate heavy metal revenge movie.
And then there's Slipknot. Nine guys. Masks. Tragedy. Lineup changes. Lawsuits. Firings. Enough internal drama to require one of those conspiracy-theory corkboards just to keep track of everybody. If Hollywood wants drama, there might already be a screenplay sitting in Iowa waiting for them.
The guys also question whether bands such as Rush and Cannibal Corpse actually need fictionalized biopics at all, while throwing out a few last-minute possibilities including Doro Pesch, Arch Enemy and Nightwish.
So grab the popcorn, take your seat and click play to find out which metal stories metal’s favourite duo think belong on the big screen.
DISCLAIMER: Copyright Exceptions under the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42), allowance is made for "fair dealing" for the purposes of criticism or review.
