JohnLennonBiopic Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Last summer, word hit that John Lennon's childhood was getting the feature treatment in Nowhere Boy, penned by the impressive Matt Greenhalgh, the writer behind Control. And while just about any biopic written by Greenhalgh would be music to my ears, it all depends on the cast -- which I can now share with you, courtesy of The Daily Mail.

Most important part, of course, is John Lennon, who will be played by the 18-year-old Aaron Johnson. The actor hasn't made a heartthrob name for himself yet, but you might recognize him -- whether it be as Charlie Chaplin in Shanghai Knights, the younger Ed Norton in The Illusionist, or as one of the leads in Gurinder Chadha's latest, Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging. He's a bit too cute for Lennon, but that's just the way of the silver screen. Meanwhile, Anne-Marie Duff will play Lennon's laid back mother, Julia. You might recognize her from the British series Shameless (where she happened to meet husband James McAvoy). And finally, there's the strict and proper Aunt Mimi, who will be played by none other than Kristin Scott Thomas.

TDK has a whole slew of tidbits on the film, but here's the overview: Nowhere Boy will start off with Lennon's birth, and detail how he's given to his Aunt Mimi to raise when Julia's marriage ends. Then it will skip to Liverpool in the '50s, when John is about to form The Quarrymen. There's no word on how far into Lennon's career the film will go, but it is based on sister Julia Baird's memoir, The Private John Lennon: The Untold Story from His Sister. Whatever the case, I'm sold.

Bringing the story of John Lennon and Mark David Chapman to the big screen didn't help Chapter 27. But perhaps a story of his life, one without Jared Leto and Lindsay Lohan, will fare better. And I raise that perhaps to a probably since this new biopic is coming from the writer of Control, which makes the news pretty damn sweet.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that a new biopic centering on John Lennon is in the works. Titled Nowhere Boy, the film was written by Matt Greenhalgh and will be helmed by visual director Sam Taylor-Wood. Nowhere will focus on Lennon's "childhood and subsequent journey to icon status." Basically, just the earlier years, and not the time that brought Yoko, Julian, and Sean. The script is said to portray his personal life as "a lonely teenager growing up as his aunt and the mother who gave him up fight for his love. His only escape is music, art, and his fateful friendship with Paul McCartney."

Casting is underway now, with plans to shoot on location in Lennon's hometown of Liverpool. I imagine that we'll see a collection of lesser and bigger actors flood the roles, but do you have anyone in mind for the famous Beatle(s)?