The family of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Roy Orbison — known for hits like “Oh, Pretty Woman,” “Crying,” “Only the Lonely” and “In Dreams” — has partnered with the independent production and financing company Compelling Pictures to develop both a theatrical feature film and long-form documentary based on singer-songwriter’s life and career.
Tentatively titled “You Got It,” after Orbison’s 1988 hit single, the film will be “a romance more than a traditional biopic,” according to the announcement, focusing on Orbison’s relationship with his wife Barbara, who became his manager and played a key role in his comeback, which took place in the years just before his death at the age of just 52 December of 1988. Barbara Orbison died in 2011.
Denis O’Sullivan (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) and Jeff Kalligheri (“I Wanna Dance With Somebody”) will produce for Compelling Pictures. Alex Orbison, Roy Orbison Jr., and Wesley Orbison will executive-produce via their production company Roy’s Boys, with Joshua Mosshart. Also serving as executive producers are Steven Garcia, Ori Allon, Janice Beard, Tanner Beard, Lexie Beard, and Dennis Casali.
Orbison’s sons said in a joint statement: “The Orbisons are elated to find the perfect partners in Compelling Pictures for the Roy Orbison biopic. Denis and Jeff’s vision for this journey through Roy’s life is incredible.”
Orbison, of course, was one of rock music’s legendary figures, with a deep, majestic voice and 1960s hits like “Oh, Pretty Woman,” “Crying,” “Only the Lonely,” “Blue Bayou,” “Dream Baby,” “It’s Over” and “In Dreams.” However, his life was struck by tragedy first in 1966, when his wife Claudette was killed in a motorcycle accident, and again two years later when his two eldest sons died when his home outside Nashville burned down. While he continued working and married Barbara in 1969, his career lost momentum in the 1970s.
However, in the following decade his hits began to be covered by everyone from Don McLean (who scored a hit in 1980 with “Crying”) to Van Halen (“Oh, Pretty Woman”), and he even won his first Grammy in 1981 for his duet with Emmylou Harris on “That Lovin’ You Feeling Again.” In 1986, his hit “In Dreams” was prominently featured in David Lynch’s film “Blue Velvet,” and he and Barbara moved to Malibu, where he fell in with local luminaries like Bob Dylan (whom he’d first met in the early ‘60s), Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, and the four united with George Harrison to form the Traveling Wilburys, a quasi-supergroup whose light but memorable songs led to their self-titled 1988 hit album.
At around the same time, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by longtime fan Bruce Springsteen, who said in his speech that in writing his breakthrough hit “Born to Run,” “I wanted a record with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector — but, most of all, I wanted to sing like Roy Orbison. Now, everyone knows that no one sings like Roy Orbison.” Orbison completed his comeback solo album, “Mystery Girl,” in November of 1988 but died suddenly of a heart attack the following month.
In a collective quote, Compelling Pictures said: “Roy Orbison is a singular talent who holds a special place in our hearts, both as a favorite singer for ourselves and our loved ones, and also as a symbol of the incredible strength and resilience of the human spirit. It’s been an honor getting to know Wesley, Roy Jr, and Alex and their families, and we believe this unique love story between Roy and Barbara — rife with humor, tension, and emotion, all accentuated by these incredible songs — will reach the rafters like one of Roy’s impossible notes.”
is repped by Jay Cohen at Gersh and Evan Krauss at Eisner LLP.
