海角大神

There鈥檚 one movie this year that boasts more spandex than the upcoming 鈥淎vengers.鈥� That dubious honor belongs to 鈥淭he Dirt,鈥� a Netflix biopic debuting today, about the heavy-metal band M枚tley Cr眉e. It鈥檚 the first in a spate of rock-music movies that has Hollywood costume designers stocking up on denim, leather, and rhinestones. Credit the unprecedented success of 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody.鈥� Last year鈥檚 record-breaking, Oscar-winning biopic about Queen has Hollywood bullish on upcoming stories about Elton John, David Bowie, C茅line Dion, Dusty Springfield, and Aretha Franklin.

Music biopics have been a regular fixture on screens since 鈥淭he Jolson Story.鈥� But the M枚tley Cr眉e, C茅line Dion, and Elton John movies are different from many past biopics. Like 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody鈥� and hip-hop group N.W.A.鈥檚 2015 box-office hit 鈥淪traight Outta Compton,鈥� these new projects are backed by the original artists.听It鈥檚 an opportunity for the musicians to shape the narratives of how they鈥檙e remembered. There鈥檚 also another motivation: In the era of information overload in which decades-old music risks obscurity, biographical films can reintroduce classic music to younger listeners.

鈥淥lder generations [of musicians] aren鈥檛 making money from streaming. They鈥檙e getting up there in years and can鈥檛 tour like they used to, and the usual revenue streams to which they have become accustomed have dried up,鈥� says David Browne, a senior writer at Rolling Stone magazine. 鈥淲hat do you do to keep music in the public eye and make a living? Biopics and jukebox musicals are the way to go.鈥�

Queen knows how to play the game. In 2002, the monarchs of rock emulated the success of the ABBA musical 鈥淢amma Mia!鈥� by creating their own London West End production, 鈥淲e Will Rock You.鈥� Queen also followed the subsequent 鈥淢amma Mia!鈥�听movie with 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody,鈥� named after their own song with a听鈥渕ama mia鈥� refrain of its own.

鈥�Bohemian Rhapsody鈥澨齨ot only earned $879 million worldwide 鈥� plus an Oscar for star Rami Malek 鈥� but its soundtrack album was a hit on Billlboard鈥檚 chart. In January, Queen briefly beat out Ariana Grande as Spotify鈥檚 No. 1 global artist. Even more astonishing? Seventy percent of those listeners were under age 35.

Aside from Queen, there鈥檚 virtually zero rock in Spotify鈥檚 current top 100 songs.听Rock music is going the way of jazz, observers note, once too the vanguard of popular music. Artists from the听鈥�60s and 鈥�70s are already losing cultural purchase. Today鈥檚 radio defines 鈥渃lassic rock鈥� as Nirvana and Pearl Jam.听

鈥淭he classic rock playlists are tightening up all the time and they are also shifting down a demographic,鈥� says Matthew Wilkening, editor-in-chief of Ultimate Classic Rock, whose parent company, Town Square Media, owns 321 U.S. radio stations. 鈥淪omething like two-thirds of the current airplay lists on classic rock is from the 鈥�80s now. So these heritage bands, to some degree, are getting squeezed out.鈥�

That explains why Alice Cooper wants a screenwriter to wrangle his life story (and pet python) into a 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody鈥�-style movie. Similarly, Elton John hopes that his self-produced 鈥淩ocketman鈥� (starring Taron Egerton as the bespectacled and bejeweled pianist) will introduce a younger audience to 鈥淕oodbye Yellow Brick Road.鈥澨�Like 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody鈥� and 鈥淪traight Outta Compton,鈥�听Elton John鈥檚 film takes significant liberties with facts and chronology. By contrast, M枚tley Cr眉e鈥檚 鈥淭he Dirt鈥� seems unvarnished. It chronicles the fallout from the band鈥檚 R-rated rock 鈥檔鈥� roll-lifestyle excess.

鈥淲ith these movies it鈥檚 controlling your future image for the rest of time,鈥� says Chris Willman, features editor for Variety. 鈥淣ot letting some biographer tell your story but finding a sympathetic screenwriter, director, and studio who will shape your story in a way that, 30 years from now, you鈥檒l seem lovable and someone who triumphed over adversity.鈥�

But for every artist that gets to tell their story the way they want 鈥� for example, the late Aretha Franklin handpicked singer Jennifer Hudson to star in the upcoming 鈥淩espect鈥�听鈥撎�other biopics are unauthorized. Lynyrd Skynyrd unsuccessfully sued former drummer Artimus Pyle over 鈥淪treet Survivors,鈥� a story of the band鈥檚 tragic 1977 plane crash. 鈥淪tardust,鈥� about David Bowie鈥檚 formative years, hasn鈥檛 received the blessing of the singer鈥檚 family. Without the rights to an artist鈥檚 music, biopics can flounder. When the Jimi Hendrix estate denied permission to 鈥淛imi: All is By My Side,鈥�听the flop movie depicted the guitarist playing blues standards.

Michael Cieply, a former film producer, is familiar with such hurdles. He spent nine years on the Sony Studio lot trying to develop a music movie. 鈥淚 invested a lot of that time in a United Artists project that was never made,鈥� says Mr. Cieply, now executive editor for the movie trade publication Deadline. 鈥淚t was a Merle Haggard project. What you learn is that there are extra layers of technical difficulty that mostly have to do with music rights. There are dozens of these pictures that people would love to make. There was a fabulous script floating around for 20 years by Tom Epperson and Billy Bob Thornton about Otis Redding. It was a perfect movie, but no one could ever quite get the music rights.鈥澨�

In an era of dwindling song royalties and falling album sales, music publishing companies may have extra incentive to assist such projects. They鈥檙e also licensing music to non-biopic movies built around artists鈥� back catalogs. For instance, this summer鈥檚 鈥淏linded by the Light鈥澨齣s about a British Muslim teenager who discovers Bruce Springsteen鈥檚 music. Director Danny Boyle鈥檚 鈥淵esterday鈥澨齣magines a world in which no one remembers The Beatles 鈥� except for one wannabe singer-songwriter who re-creates the Fab Four鈥檚 songs and pretends they鈥檙e his own compositions. (Well, perhaps not "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.")听

Beyond that, expect a rush to develop biopics that emulate VH-1鈥檚 鈥淏ehind the Music鈥澨齭eries, just as 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody鈥� did.

鈥淚t鈥檚 largely the same template,鈥� says Mr. Willman. 鈥淚t ends on a moment that leaves people feeling happy and wanting to go out and buy the catalog.鈥�