Rock Star
Short description
Chris Cole is a devoted fan of the heavy metal band Steel Dragon, fronting a tribute act called Blood Pollution that reproduces the group's songs note for note. When his bandmates push him out of the group he started, he is left without an outlet for the obsession that has shaped his life, to the frustration of Emily, his girlfriend and manager. A call from Steel Dragon changes things: the band needs a new singer to replace Bobby Beers, and Chris is invited to audition for the role he has spent years imitating.
The film is directed by Stephen Herek, the ninth of the nineteen features he has made in chronological order, following Holy Man and preceding Life or Something Like It. John Stockwell wrote the screenplay, and Mark Wahlberg plays Chris, with Jennifer Aniston as Emily. The credited cast and crew run to 64 and 122 people respectively.
Released in September 2001, Rock Star had a budget of 57 million dollars and took in 19 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.3 out of 10 from 47,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7 out of 10 from 838 votes. A film critics' rating of 6 out of 10 from 128 reviews places professional response level with the audience scores on both sites.
What's left behind the scenes
- The plot is based on the true story of Tim “Ripper” Owens and the band Judas Priest.
- When Mark Wahlberg fell from the stairs during Izzy's first performance with the band Steel Dragon, it happened at a real rock concert. At first, the audience fell silent in shock, thinking he had fallen for real, but after several takes they figured out what was going on and stopped reacting to the fall.
- Initially, the film was going to be titled Metal God, or “God of Metal” (which was the nickname of vocalist Rob Halford). It was planned to be a documentary biography of Judas Priest, and the band members actively collaborated with the filmmakers (and even sometimes shared show business anecdotes), but soon the entire group left the project.
- Mark Wahlberg was lucky that in his time – specifically during his years with the hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – he was closely and regularly associated with rock stars, including Motley Crue vocalist Vincent Neil Wharton (Vince Neil), so he was familiar with that world.
- The film is based on the true story of Timothy Steven Owens, or Tim Owens, nicknamed “Ripper,” a member of a tribute band performing songs by the British group Judas Priest, who in 1996 received an invitation to become the vocalist of that group, replacing Rob Halford who had left. Bobby Beers, the vocalist of the band Steel Dragon, played by Jason Fleming, announced upon leaving the group that he was homosexual, just as Halford had done in reality.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
