Ready For The Battle Of Two Jeff Buckleys?

First it was Oliver Stones's Alexander the Great versus Buzz Luhrmann's Alexander the Great.

Then, Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes versus Christopher Nolan's Howard Hughes.

Now, we have Jake Scott's Jeff Buckley versus Dan Algrant's Jeff Buckley!

So, what do we know about Jeff Buckley? The son of the famous (if you're a fan of the 70s rock) musician Tim Buckley, was to be America's next star and gradually gained prominence in teh genre of rock and folk music with his now well-known album Grace and cover song "Hallelujah" and single "Last Goodbye", released in the mid-90s.

Buckley was expected to continue the path to fame, started by his father. Unfortunately, he also repeated his father in the abrupt death at a very early age of 30. Since then and the success of his posthumous Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk, the name Jeff Buckley rose to the masses and now has its own fan base. Although living a short life, Buckey's biography has drawn attention in publicity and remained the subject of many talks for years. Now, we have not one, but two biopics ready to kick in and tell the story of Jeff Buckley on the big screen. 

The first biopic already has the title Greetings from Tim Buckley and is already in production and planned for the release in 2012. The film is being produced by Smuggler Films, a newcommer in the film industry, and directed by Daniel Algrant (Naked in New York and People I Know). Algrant also co-wrote the script along with screenwriters David Brendel and Emma Sheanshang.

In June, it was announced that Penn Badgley, known for starring in Gossip Girl and Easy A, will play the lead role of a yet to break through artist in his personal search to understand his father. As the press release elaborates, "Greetings from Tim Buckley follows the true story of the days leading up to Jeff Buckley’s eminent 1991 performance at his father’s tribute concert in St. Ann’s Church.

Through a romance with a young woman working at the concert, he comes to understand the father who abandoned him.  Culminating in a cathartic performance of his father’s most famous songs, Jeff’s debut stuns the audience and launches his career as one of the greatest young musicians of his time."

Another movie depicting the artist is also set for the release in the same year of 2012 and will begin shooting this November. Despite the movie is still undergoing development and even lacks a title, this movie was approved by Jeff Buckley's mother, estate manager Mary Guilbert, who negatively responded to many screenwriters' proposals. Moreover, compared to the first film, this one is also granted the right to use the actual music of Jeff Buckley and now has Guilbert as the executive producer.

The story centers around Buckley's career start and his struggle to break into music industry, as he leaves his home in California for the East Coast. The film is also being developed by producers Michelle Sy (Finding Neverland and Stolen Summer) and Orian Williams (Control), director Jake Scott (the son of Ridley Scott, whose debut was Welcome to the Rileys) and screenwriter Ryan Jaffe.

On August 15, it was officially confirmed that Jeff Buckley will be played by Reeve Carney, whois mainly known for starring in the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. In his commentary regarding their choice for the lead role, Sy stated:

Reeve’s a true discovery. Even though he’s noted for Spider-Man, he hasn’t done a lot of films, and we think that will add to the authenticity of the performance, that people don’t recognize him. ‘Who will play Jeff?’ is the question everyone has been asking from day one, and Reeve’s audition really blew us all away—from his music to his acting to his sensitivity as an individual. Mary was over the moon. We all were.

Noteworthy, there is a third film about Jeff Buckley to be directed by Brendan Fletcher (Mad Bastards) under the title A Pure Drop. 

It will be certainly interesting to witness the battle of at least two of these films in the same year (and probably same season) for becoming the ultimate biopic about Jeff Buckley.

Deadline Hollywood