Grateful Dead Biopic Update: Jonah Hill Reveals Progress on Long-Awaited Film
The Grateful Dead biopic, which has been in development for nearly five years, is still in progress according to Jonah Hill. Hill mentioned the project during an appearance on Rick Rubin's Tetragrammaton podcast, revealing that he is involved in producing the film but will not be acting in or directing it. Originally, Hill was set to play Jerry Garcia in the movie, but now it seems that he will not be taking on that role.
Hill, a self-proclaimed Deadhead, came up with the idea for the biopic during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when he saw a photo of a young Jerry Garcia on Instagram. He initially doubted himself but eventually shared the idea with his manager, who passed it along to Martin Scorsese. Scorsese, known for his work on the Grateful Dead documentary "Long Strange Trip," agreed to direct the film.
The biopic project was initially reported by Deadline and set up at Apple. Screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski were brought on board to write the script, and Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart signed on as executive producers. Jerry Garcia's daughter Trixie Garcia and talent manager Bernie Cahill also joined as executive producers.
Recent updates on the project come from an Instagram post by Phish on Philm, who claimed to have received a copy of the script. The post revealed that the film is titled "Grateful" and hinted that Scorsese may have shifted into a producing role rather than directing. While details from the script were shared, they have not been officially confirmed.
Despite the lack of official confirmation, Hill's comments and the script details shared by Phish on Philm indicate that the Grateful Dead biopic is still in the works. Fans of the band can look forward to learning more about the film as it progresses.