Get ready KISS fans! A new biopic about the famous rock band’s earliest days will be coming your way in the near future!
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, casting actors to play the band’s members is expected to begin in the very near future. The new film is expected to center around the “social pressures” that led to the band’s formation, according to their manager Doc McGhee.
Specifically, the new movie will focus on the first four years in the history of the group. The members expected to play roles in the film are Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley. Each of them will be in their 20s in the timeline of the film.
McGhee also reported that the script for the film is complete. Also, some important Hollywood names are also onboard for the project.
“Mark Canton – who is a very, very powerful producer and production company … he was a president of Sony and all that, he’s done 300 films … his team and Universal Music and ourselves have partnered up with Joachim Ronning, who is a very sought-after director that did things like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ and (his) ‘Kon-Tiki’ was up for an Academy Award,” McGhee also said during an interview with Talking Metal.
Upcoming Film Will Show Band ‘Before They Were Famous’
The perspective into the early days of KISS is something the manager said he believes fans will enjoy experiencing.
“Basically, it’s before they were famous. … And I think it’s a very interesting look at the formation of KISS, the mindset of how that came about, the social pressure that everybody was (under) in the ’60s and ’70s that brought something like KISS to the forefront (so) that it could actually happen. …” McGhee also said.
The Rock Band KISS Was Established During the Early 1970s
It was during 1973 that KISS was established. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had just experienced the end of their other band, Wicked Lester. Of course, they wanted to continue making music. So, they decided to create a band that focused on a “harder-edged sound.”
To help them in their new musical venture, Stanley and Simmons brought in Ace Frehley to play guitar and Peter Criss to play the drums. Thus, KISS was born. They signed on with Casablanca Records in 1973. By 1975, the band came out with its gold LP, “Alive!” Years of success followed. The lineup of Stanley, Simmons, Frehley, and Criss was together until 1980.
During the years 1980 through 1982, Eric Carr took the place of Peter Criss. From 1982 into 1984, KISS was made up of Simmons, Stanley, Carr, and Vinnie Vincent. In 1984, Vincent was replaced by Mark St. John. His tenure with the band was short-lived due to arthritis. That same year, Bruce Kulick took St. John’s spot. Kulick was with the band into 1991.
Beginning in 1992, Eric Singer took over from Eric Carr. This lineup of Simmons, Stanley, Kulick, and Carr stayed together until 1996. It was that year that original members, Frehley and Criss, returned to the band. This reunion, however, didn’t last. Since 2004, KISS has been made up of Stanley, Simmons, Singer, and Tommy Thayer.
