Actress Hayley Atwell, who will next be seen in the likely blockbuster Captain America: The First Avenger, tells Esquire Magazine that her next project may be a biopic of the late rock n’roll legend Jimi Hendrix with Outkast rapper Andre 3000 as Hendrix. In the interview in Esquire, in which Atwell is featured as one of the magazine’s “Women we Love,” the actress claims the Hendrix biopic may be up next for her but for now “Let’s just wait and see.”
The likely reason for the “wait and see” is a battle for the rights to Jimi Hendrix’s music. The estate of Jimi Hendrix has been notorious in Hollywood for their protection of Hendrix’s music. Several attempts to start a Jimi Hendrix biopic have died on the vine while attempts to secure the music dragged on and on.
In 1994 actor Laurence Fishburne was on track to play the guitar legend until the movie got swept into a legal battle over the rights to Hendrix’s music and image. Fishburne had optioned the book “Scuse Me While I Kissed the Sky,” author David Henderson’s 1983 biography of Hendrix, as the basis for his Hendrix movie. Fishburne finally abandoned plans for the project in 2005, admitting he was now too old for the role.
Andre 3000, aka Andre Benjamin, has been tied to the Jimi Hendrix biopic since 2006. Like Fishburne’s attempt, Benjamin’s movie has been prevented by the Hendrix estate’s refusal to allow the use of Jimi’s music. Interestingly, the return of Andre 3000‘s name to a Hendrix project comes on the heels of singer Jason Derullo‘s admission to MTV that he turned down the role of Jimi Hendrix in a planned biopic. Whether it was the same project or another competing Jimi Hendrix project is unknown.
We’ll keep you updated when we find out more.
