Jeff Buckley only released one incredible album before his untimely death in 1997. In the years since his passing, Buckley has become an icon in alternative rock history. It only makes sense that quite a few people have wanted to put out a Jeff Buckley biopic. Actor Brad Pitt was one such person. And according to a new documentary, Buckley’s mother was the one to shut that idea down.
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It has recently been revealed that Mary Guibert, Buckley’s mother, had developed a bit of a friendship with Pitt when he began to float around ideas for a dramatized film about Buckley at the turn of the millennium.
Pitt asked Guibert for permission to turn her late son’s life into a biopic. Guibert was receptive but understandably uneasy.
“We’re going to dye your hair, put brown contact lenses on those baby blues, and you’re going to open your mouth and Jeff’s voice is going to come out?” Guibert allegedly asked Pitt.
Years later, director Amy Berg got in touch with Guibert about directing a biopic about Buckley. Again, Guibert was skeptical about how well his story would play out on screen. She also wasn’t sure about her son’s story being “someone’s learning-on-the-job situation”.
So, instead of going the dramatized route, Berg transformed his story into a documentary. Guibert gave Berg access to tons of archival footage, and Brad Pitt served as executive producer. The result, It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, debuted today at Sundance.
Brad Pitt’s Jeff Buckley Biopic Was Transformed Into an Intimate Documentary
“Once I started listening to his voicemail messages and his DAP player and demos and reading his journals, I just couldn’t imagine it being anything but a documentary,” Berg explained. “And I just didn’t know how you could kind of replicate Jeff in that scripted sense.”
It’s worth noting that outside of It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, Guibert decided to serve as co-producer of the film Everybody Here Wants You, which will star Reeve Carney as her late son.
“This will be the only official dramatization of Jeff’s story which I can promise his fans will be true to him and to his legacy,” said Guibert back in 2021 when the film was announced.
As of now, there have not been any additional updates about that particular biopic.
We’re honestly glad they decided to immortalize and celebrate Jeff Buckley via a documentary, rather than going to biopic route. It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley has not yet been picked up by a distributor, but we’re excited to see it outside of Sundance soon.
Photo by David Gahr/Getty Images
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