5 Musician Biopics We'd Actually Pay to See

The last time I gave musical biopics some real thought was after watching Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, where the parody exposed that genre of filmmaking for the pretty obvious formula it is but the sentiment still stung. After all, aren't movie tributes to musical legends supposed to be as thrilling and revealing as the entertainers themselves? The news that Mary J. Blige will play jazz vocalist and civil rights hero Nina Simone in a new biopic is welcome, since Simone's life story isn't known to the average filmgoer in 2010, but I think the genre could still use a tune-up. Here are five musicians or bands who would pose an exciting alternative to the rote drugs-and-redemption arc of most biopics.

The Velvet Underground

The characters and setting surrounding the Velvet Underground's rise to rock idolatry are certifiably cinematic: Andy Warhol, Nico, and New York City. If Warhol's traveling roadshow Explosive Plastic Inevitable isn't worth a darkly shot reenactment, nothing is. Lou Reed's literary and narcotic influences are as mystical now as they were in 1967, and his woozy-but-stalwart genius would be a fabulous break from the overly traditional biopics of the past decade. Not that Lou Reed would ever sell the rights to his life story -- but a biopic called Peel Slowly and See? Sounds marketable from here.

Casting Option: James Franco (as Lou Reed)

Joni Mitchell

Woodstock is a heavily chronicled landmark, but Joni Mitchell, the legendary singer-songwriter who missed her chance to attend the festival thanks to her American TV debut on The Dick Cavett Show, is under-examined. She survived childhood polio, created albums of astonishing intimacy like Blue and Court and Spark, and suffered the patronizing title of "Greatest Female Songwriter" for most of her career. Mitchell represented a flower girl to many -- the chirpy mama with the guitar -- though her introverted nature and self-possession stood at odds with her Laurel Canyon trappings. Her resistance to conform to an unfair public image is worth its own three-hour cinematic experience (especially one that would consider her adventurous forays into world and jazz music) and it even comes with a great third-act moment: Later in her life, she was reunited with the daughter she gave up for adoption in the '60s.

Casting Option: Is Ellen Page for early career and Meryl Streep for later too much of a stretch?

Afrika Bambaataa

Upcoming biopics on NWA and Tupac Shakur will shed light on some of hip hop's revolutionaries, but the story of Afrika Bambaataa's career is full of triumph. As a gang founder and eventual gang warlord in the Bronx, you wouldn't figure that Bambaataa would become a mind-blowing artist, but after winning an essay contest and earning a trip to Africa, the young thinker adopted the name of a Zulu chief, moved home an altered person, and soon became the flamboyant showman who sampled the German electronic band Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express to create the innovative anthem "Planet Rock." He's also largely responsible for the turntabling explosion of the late '90s.

Casting Option: Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson

Bjork

The critically revered, generally misunderstood prodigy released her first album on her 12th birthday, and her mysterious power has only gained momentum since. In her 20-year stateside career, Bjork's proven herself adventurous, unpredictable, and fiercely protective over her family. Surely a role that combines childlike trills and visceral pangs of genius would be a windfall for some daring thespian.

Casting Option: Winona Ryder. But with a little more restraint than her Celebrity Jeopardy version on SNL.

Elton John

Thanks to Elton John's pop culture omnipresence, it's sort of easy to forget that his career in music is unmatched in terms of sheer spectacle, opulence, and trauma. The building of an ostentatious stage persona and an early career of indulgence and lies is interesting -- particularly the transition from balladeer to balls-out rocker in a Donald Duck costume. His coming-out story predates George Michael and Melissa Etheridge, and his stature as an HIV/AIDS awareness advocate cement him as a singular legend. Also: He's richer than God.

Casting Option: Justin Timberlake (He's already played him once before)