The 'Wolf of Wall Street' helmer is attached to a biographical film about the iconic band formed by Johnny, Joey, Tommy and Dee Dee Ramone.
- Aug 28, 2014
AceShowbiz - Martin Scorsese is reportedly making a movie about the seminal U.S. punk rock band Ramones. According to Billboard, the biopic is just one of the several projects developed by the band's reunited estate after Johnny's and Joey's camps put aside their differences following a long-time feud.
The Ramones was formed by three friends, singer Joey, guitarist Johnny and bassist Dee Dee, in 1970s. They changed their last names to Ramone in homage to the pseudonym used by Paul McCartney when he was still in The Beatles. In 1980s, Johnny and Joey fell out and stopped speaking with each other.
Johnny Ramone died of prostate cancer in 2004, while Joey Ramone died of lymphatic cancer in 2001. Dee Dee Ramone died from a heroin overdose in the following year, just two months after the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Tommy Ramone, the last surviving founding member of group, lost his battle against bile duct cancer in July this year.
Johnny's widow Linda Ramone previously controlled the guitarist's half of the band's estate, while Joey's brother Mickey oversaw the lead singer's half. The reconciliation was made in an effort to preserve and celebrate the band's music. "With Tommy up there now with them it even feels more like, 'Wow, they are all gone,' " Linda explained. "I spoke to Tommy every week and the legacy was really important to him too."
"It's always been about the entire band except I had Johnny's half and Joey's brother Mickey had Joey's half. And since we weren't speaking he did more Joey and I did more Johnny," she said. "We can move on now and do Ramones cause me and Mickey now are friends, so that's cool."
"I was happy he came last night," she said of the event honoring Johnny Ramone at Hollywood Forever Cemetery this past Sunday, August 24. "As we say everyday now, 'We're all one big happy family,' " the guitarist's widow joked.
Aside from a biopic, the estate also plans a theatrical play and a book as saying, "You'll see a book coming, which is not a biographical book so much, but a story of the band's formation and those first few records and that craziness that happened. It'll be a combination of prose, photographs and memorabilia and posters, just kind of documenting the scene."
The estate added, "You're gonna see some really interesting combinations of music and new music and remastered music and apparel."
