Sir Ridley Scott’s untitled “Bee Gees” biopic has stalled at Paramount Pictures due to a contractual dispute, the “Gladiator 2” filmmaker said in a new interview.
“The deal — the studio changed the goalposts,” Scott told GQ. “I said, ‘You can’t do that.’ They insisted. I said, ‘Well, I’m going to warn you, I will walk, because I will go on to the next movie.’ They didn’t believe me, and I did.”
Scott remains optimistic the project will resume, suggesting it could be his second film this year once the deal issues are resolved.
“I was being asked to go too far,” Scott added. “And I said, ‘No. Next!’ They didn’t like my deal. So I said, I’ll move on. I’m expensive, but I’m fucking good.”
According to a Paramount insider with knowledge of the project, Scott is still directing the untitled “Bee Gees” biopic and it’s set to start shooting in the fall.
The film will follow the life and career of brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb — following their first No. 1 hit “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” the band went on to write and perform hundreds of songs, and also worked on the soundtrack for 1977’s “Saturday Night Fever.”
Originally from Australia, the vocal talents of the Gibb brothers – Barry, Robin, and Maurice – were already evident in the late 50s. Though they started with folksy harmonies, their infectious melodies and Barry’s signature falsetto struck a chord with audiences in the mid-to-late 1970s when they penned the bulk of the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever.”
Those disco megahits translated into over 200 million records sold, and made the Bee Gees global superstars. However, their strong association with the disco genre led them to unexpectedly experience a fan backlash later on when public enthusiasm for disco’s style waned. Even still, with decades of evolving musical creativity to their name, the Bee Gees have certainly cemented their reputation as one of pop music’s most adaptable and best-selling acts.