Scott Weiland, the talented but troubled late singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver who famously battled substance abuse throughout his career, will be the subject of a new feature biopic titledPaper Heart.
THRbroke the news, reporting thatPaper Heartwill be based on the bookNot Dead & Not for Sale, which Weiland co-wrote with authorDavid Ritz.Orian Williams(Control) will produce the film alongside Dark Pictures, whose co-founderJennifer Erwinwill write the script.
“It’s an honor to have the trust to tell Scott’s story and the ability to portray the lesser-known sides of him – the loving and tender man he was, the high school athlete he was, the melancholy soul he was, and the legendary frontman that he will always be,” Erwin said in a statement.
“Scott was glamorous, complicated and wounded. His childhood had a big effect on his struggles with addiction,” addedAnne Beagan, co-founder of Dark Pictures. Beagan is alluding to Weiland’s well-publicized struggles with heroin, which are bound to be a part ofPaper Heart.
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“We’ve been approached many times about Scott’s story and when this team came to us with their vision for a film, it felt right,“David Vigliano, whose company handles Weiland’s estate, said in a statement to THR, which also reported that the filmmakers have access to previously unreleased music forPaper Heart.
Having grown up a rock fan in the ’90s, I was definitely into the first three STP albums –Core(featuring “Creep,” “Plush” and “Wicked Garden”), which sold more than 8 million albums in America;Purple(featuring “Big Empty,” “Interstate Love Song” and “Vaseline”), which performed nearly as well; andTiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop(featuring “Big Bang Baby,” “Tumble in the Rough” and “Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart”). In fact, I was jamming out to STP this past weekend on the drive back to Boston from my brother’s wedding in Vermont, because I was listening toThe Crowsoundtrack, which featured “Big Empty.”
Stone Temple Pilots disbanded in 2003 before reuniting in 2008 for a tour that led them to record one last studio album with Weiland in 2010. The singer died in 2015 and was replaced byJeff Gutt, who joined the band in 2017. During STP’s hiatus years, Weiland joined the supergroup Velvet Revolver, which featured several band members from Guns ‘N Roses. I wasn’t a big Velvet Revolver guy, but my Dad was definitely into them, and Weiland was the lead vocalist on their two albums, which were released in 2004 and 2007. I don’t know much about the man behind the music but this is one biopic that has certainly piqued my interest, and I’m eager to hear his unreleased music, as the California native was a talent who was taken too soon.
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