Midnight Rider director making another film about aging rocker (fictitious this time)
Director Randall Miller, fresh from entering a plea of not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter, is trying to get the ball rolling on another film project. Miller is the director of Midnight Rider, an ill-fated biopic of rock musician Gregg Allman that’s been on hold since February, when second camera assistant Sarah Jones died in a freight train accident on the first day of filming. In addition to the involuntary manslaughter charge, Miller is also facing a charge of criminal trespass, a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Jones’ parents, and a personal injury suit from another crewmember hurt in the accident. Naturally wanting to put as much space between himself and Midnight Rider as possible, Miller now hopes to make Slick Rock Trail, a movie about an aging rock star. But this time, it’s a fake one.
Slock Rock Trial will follow a washed-up rocker named Keith Aldridge as he travels to Utah in an attempt to resolve some personal issues before he dies. It’s currently looking for cast members. Miller is reportedly circulating the script without a name on the title page, perhaps wary that people will be unwilling to work with a man scheduled to undergo a criminal trial in March of next year.
Also, that script isn’t without its share of problems. Deadline reports that it contains this unfortunate line, said by a musician nervous about putting a band together: “Two drummers. That will be a train wreck.” In addition to being in extremely poor taste, the line may also be stolen. Speaking about his autobiography, My Cross To Bear, Gregg Allman himself has said, “In the book, I talk about when my brother first called me about being in the band he said he had these two drummers and two lead guitarists, and I remember thinking that sounded like a train wreck.”
Allman didn’t have a problem suing his own biopic when he thought the producers hadn’t properly obtained the rights to his life story, so it stands to reason he may also sue this one (together with who knows who else) if it ever manages to get off the ground.