A Movie about Jaco? Why Not?

[ZonGuy]

Jaco's life would make an interesting, if depressing movie.

Brilliant musical prodigy
Upbeat clean cut athletic teenager
Teenage father, Lean years raising a family
Gets audition with top fusion band by audacity and luck
World shaking new musical talent on the scene
Quick disintegration with mental problems after discovering drugs and alcohol
Love affairs
Adoration by fans long after the musical talent is gone
General chaos
Beaten to death


Seems like "Johnny Cash" meets "A Beautiful Mind"

Sooner or later, I expect a flic or made-for-tv movie.

[Matt Till]

There's been talk of it, but it would probably be a flop. How much of the average movie going audience A) Is an avid jazz fan B) Is a bassist?

It would appeal to a small demographic, UNLESS of course, they do get Johnny Depp to play Jaco. Then it would be a hit for certain. He did have an interesting life, but not many people care.

[namraj]

If you make its focus drama rather than biography then it could be a success, if you don't over plug the this is jaco and you plug the true life story, then i could see it working

[Matt Till]

But if people don't know who Jaco is, they won't go see it.

[ZonGuy]

"A Beutiful Mind" was about about a brilliant mathematician that went nuts. It did very well at the box office.

How many folks knew who John Nash was?*
How many folks are mathematicians?

[Matt Till]

Well, that's fine. I'd like to see it happen/succeed, but I still have my doubts.

[VincentPuleo]

I know there has been talk, I really hope it eventually comes out. If they get the right people I think the movie could be amazing.

It be funny if Johnny Deep played him all these girls in my highschool would be like

"omg I luv Jaco"

[synaesthesia]

Originally Posted by ZonGuy

"A Beutiful Mind" was about about a brilliant mathematician that went nuts. It did very well at the box office.

How many folks knew who John Nash was?*
How many folks are mathematicians?

The creative 'dramatization' was very high though, so much that as a biopic, it was not accurate. 'Catch me if you can" was also a biopic in a way, and it was heavily fictionalised. If they were done as complete fictional accounts, they would have done well as cinematic effort withouth the true character connection.In either case, all you needed was to say "based on a true story".....The creative dramatisation in the Johnny Cash and Ray Charles biopics was high too... they were much bigger in reputation and market draw than Jaco ever was.

[KromaatiKlauun]

It would be interesting, but it's going to be more focused on his ilness and drug abuse problemas than his musical ability

[j.a.e.r.i.p]

To be honest i'd say jaco's life was so screwed up there would to be any creative dramatization. I think the truth speaks louder than any over elaborate acting could

[Deluge Of Sound]

All I know is that the soundtrack would suck...

[bassist15]

I could see this maybe only as like a straight to DVD release. I love jaco but there isnt alot of people out there that actually know Jaco. I think it is kind of a dumb idea....yea the first post has a rundown of his life that is something you could use in a movie but I just think that it wouldnt be very popular at all.

[namraj]

i dunno, a drama like that written from scratch could do well so using a true story to "bass" :P an exiting drama film on is possible, see beautiful mind (as mentioned above)

[RL6]

Consider this: there has not yet been a movie about Miles Davis ( that I know of...)...

[NJL]

Originally Posted by RL6

Consider this: there has not yet been a movie about Miles Davis ( that I know of...)...

i thought it was also very interesting that in the movie Bird, Miles didn't have much of a character if any at all..

i wonder why Clint had that happen?

[CDuff]

It's true, it wouldn't be successful if it were to be pitted against the likes of "Ray" and "Walk The Line" in the tiresome Biopic genre because not everyone loves Jazz Fusion and hardly any of the cinema-going public know who Jaco is.
However, looking at the bullet points of his life in the original post, there's no reason that it'd be a bad film if it were fiction. Screenwriters invent people all the time and the films are good and popular. If you made a film about Jaco and made it well, the 'character' of Jaco would come to people as the protagonist in a new, interesting drama and then secondly with the additional knowledge that actually it's based on the life of a real person.
I think you could make any random person's life into a good film. A good screenwriter, director, production designer combination could make it great. There's no reason Jaco: The Film should be a flop. None whatsoever ...apart from the fact that it would inevitably be billed as a sort of follow-up to Ray or something like that. If a studio went with it, it'd be a disaster. If it was made independently, it could be really moving.
I don't know what kind of grants the American government has for aspiring film-makers. There's a few schemes in Europe that'd help get it moving if somebody was so-inclined.

[armywalaby]

Originally Posted by bassist15

I could see this maybe only as like a straight to DVD release. I love jaco but there isnt alot of people out there that actually know Jaco. I think it is kind of a dumb idea....yea the first post has a rundown of his life that is something you could use in a movie but I just think that it wouldnt be very popular at all.

Suffering the same fate as the Buddy Holly story starring Gary Busey......

[RHFusillo]

Originally Posted by RL6

Consider this: there has not yet been a movie about Miles Davis ( that I know of...)...

I keep reading that actor Don Cheadle intends to make a movie about Miles. Physically, he's perfect for the role and he can pull off the attitude.

As for the Jaco movie, my question is, who is wierd enough to play Wayne Shorter?

[D.Don]

Originally Posted by ZonGuy

Jaco's life would make an interesting, if depressing movie.

Brilliant musical prodigy
Upbeat clean cut athletic teenager
Teenage father, Lean years raising a family
Gets audition with top fusion band by audacity and luck
World shaking new musical talent on the scene
Quick disintegration with mental problems after discovering drugs and alcohol
Love affairs
Adoration by fans long after the musical talent is gone
General chaos
Beaten to death


Seems like "Johnny Cash" meets "A Beautiful Mind"

Sooner or later, I expect a flic or made-for-tv movie.

The entire world knows who Johnny Cash was, from ten year olds to our oldest people who where young when he was.

Jaco is known by a little narrow range of music nerds that listen to jazz that most people would get ear infections from if presented with and trying to listen too ...

A film would draw a very small audience and most probably never even reach the theaters either.

D.Don

[capnsandwich]

I'd watch it. BTW, who do you think would make a good Jaco? That's a pretty tough role to play IMO.

I think it would make a great independent film.