Not sure if there's a thread on this anywhere else - I couldn't see one. Sam Taylor-Wood is to be the director of Nowhere Boy, the forthcoming film about John Lennon's childhood.

More here: http://www.beatlesbible.com/2008/08/29/sam-taylor-wood-to-direct-lennon-biopic-nowhere-boy/
An older story, with some background: http://www.beatlesbible.com/2008/07/18/lennon-childhood-biopic-awarded-uk-film-council-grant/

Let's hope it's accurate and goes some way to dispelling the self perpetrated myth about Lennon's so called awful childhood.

Bloody awful title, reminiscent of Sunday feature journalism. It's a wait-and-see project at best.


Taylor-Wood plans Lennon biopic

Artist Sam Taylor-Wood and Control writer Matt Greenhalgh to direct and write film about John Lennon's teenage years

Ben Child and agencies
Guardian.co.uk,
Friday August 29 2008 09:48 BST


John Lennon's troubled adolescence is to be the subject of a film from the writer of Control and the artist Sam Taylor-Wood.

Matt Greenhalgh, who won a Bafta for his screenplay about the final years of Joy Division's Ian Curtis, is to focus his script on the lonely teenage years of the future Beatle, who was raised by his authoritarian aunt after being abandoned by his mother. In the film, titled Nowhere Boy, Lennon finds solace in his music, art and friendship with Paul McCartney.

Taylor-Wood, who will be making her feature debut on the project, will shoot on location in Liverpool in the area where Lennon grew up. Casting is said to be underway on the project, and the Daily Mail reports today that Kate Winslet is being encouraged to audition for the role of Lennon's mother, Julia.

"The women in John's early life truly shaped who he became," Taylor-Wood told the Hollywood Reporter. "And the strengths and weaknesses of their relationships are central to this film."

The feature is being financed by Ecosse Films, with the support of the Film Council. It's not the first film to focus on Lennon, who as part of the Beatles was the subject of 1994's Backbeat, which focused on the band's early career in Hamburg. There was also 1991's The Hours and the Times, a fictionalised account of what might have happened when Lennon and Beatles manager Brian Epstein took a holiday together in 1963. Lennon was played by Ian Hart on both occasions.

Last year's The Killing of John Lennon centred on the final hours of Lennon's life from the perspective of his murderer, Mark Chapman.

While not having directed a feature film before, Taylor-Wood has a history working with musicians. She has produced films based on the Pet Shop Boys' Somewhere concerts at the Savoy theatre in London and made a promotional video starring Robert Downey Jr for the 2001 Elton John single I Want Love.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/aug/29/lennon.taylorwood

Quoted from BlueMeanie

Let's hope it's accurate and goes some way to dispelling the self perpetrated myth about Lennon's so called awful childhood.

I can almost already imagine the start of the film with bombs dropping on Liverpool while John was born. Which is inaccurate for a start.

I HEARD IT WAS WAR RAVAGED LIDDYPOOL....sorry about the caps....

I heard that Kate Winslet is set to play Julia. An interesting choice for sure.

Quoted from JimmyMcCullochFan

I heard that Kate Winslet is set to play Julia. An interesting choice for sure.

That was my reaction, too: is Winslet at all plausible for the role (I haven't seen in her in anything lately), or does it say something unfortunate about the sort of movie they want to shoot?

Maybe they'll get the bloke that plays Charlie in 'Lost', to play John!

Quoted from Geoff

That was my reaction, too: is Winslet at all plausible for the role (I haven't seen in her in anything lately), or does it say something unfortunate about the sort of movie they want to shoot?

I've only seen her in a couple of movies (A Kid in King Arthur's Court and Titanic) but I think she's a good actress who'll probably surprise a lot of people who are thinking Kate Winslet!?

As long as she shaves her eyebrows.

I'm afraid I'm nearly completely lost at this sort of thing: Winslet does appear to have a good career resume, though:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Winslet

She's a fine actress. I just think that well known people are better played by relative unknowns. A Pauline Collins type would do the job. I won't see Julia Lennon, I'll see Kate Winslett, whereas the unknown will have a reasonable chance at realism. I'll just be waiting for Leonardo to call round and say 'fancy a trip on me boat this afternoon luv'!

I think Kate can pull off Julia. When I saw The Dark Knight, I didn't think to myself that that was Heath Ledger. It was The Joker and not Heath. Only afterwards did it sink in. He did that good of a job.

After seeing Leo in some of his other films (The Departed, Blood Diamond, Gangs of New York just to name a few) I hardly ever think of him as his portrayal in Titanic. He's a talented actor who has gotten away (IMO) from that Titanic Leo DiCaprio heart throb crap.   His performances in What's Eating Gilbert Grape? and The Basketball Diaries (Both pre Titanic) are amazing as well.

Maybe they could dress him up in drag and play Aunt Mimi?