Last week, Hollywood Life had an “exclusive” that I just didn’t want to believe. They claimed that out of all of the young actors in Hollywood and beyond, producers had chosen Gossip Girl also-ran Penn Badgley to play the late Jeff Buckley. The role of Buckley was supposed to go to someone like James Franco, or Robert Pattinson, or my beloved Fassbender. Anyway, I thought it was just a rumor started by Penn’s publicist, but now the truth comes out, and it’s both good and bad. First, the bad: Penn is going to be playing Jeff Buckley. The good news: He won’t be playing Buckley in the artsy Jeff Buckly bio-pic that Sparkles and Franco are currently in contention for. No, Penn got the Jeff Buckley role in a film called Greetings from Tim Buckley, all about Jeff Buckley’s strained relationship with his father Tim. While I’m glad Penn wasn’t selected for the big bio-pic, I still don’t think he’s capable of pulling this off:

New York, NY (June 20, 2011) – Smuggler Films announced today Penn Badgley will star in the much anticipated film Greetings from Tim Buckley. He will play Tim Buckley’s son Jeff in the first film to be made about the musicians. There has been much speculation regarding the casting of Jeff Buckley as many of Hollywood’s hottest stars were interested in playing one of the most remarkable music artists of his generation.

Greetings from Tim Buckley was written by Dan Algrant, Emma Sheanshang and David Brendel and will be directed by Dan Algrant (People I Know, Naked in New York).

Greetings from Tim Buckley follows the true story of the days leading up to Jeff Buckley’s eminent 1991 performance at his father’s tribute concert in St. Ann’s Church. Through a romance with a young woman working at the concert, he comes to understand the father who abandoned him. Culminating in a cathartic performance of his father’s most famous songs, Jeff’s debut stuns the audience and launches his career as one of the greatest young musicians of his time.

Penn Badgley said, “To play a man who was singularly gifted as an artist, greatly misunderstood & mythologized as a human being… It’s something very special and sacred. I’m going to give all I can to this project.”

Patrick Milling Smith of Smuggler Films. “In its purest form this is a father and son story, a rite of passage that is made possible by a romantic journey Jeff finds himself on. We see Jeff accepting who he is to become and laying to rest the ghost of his father while ultimately finding his voice. We had been searching well over a year for an actor that can come close to Jeff’s spirit while also having the serious musical chops required to authentically tell this story. Penn’s audition blew us away and we knew we found our star.”

[From The Huffington Post]

Ugh, so who will play Tim Buckley? I guess he hasn’t been cast yet. While I think this is a great premise for a film – I’m being serious – I have very serious doubts about how Penn is going to mess this up. We’ll see, won’t we?

Imagine if we get to have a side-by-side comparison of Penn as Buckley and Robert Pattinson as Buckley. I have to say… I still don’t think Sparkles would be terrible as Buckley.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

This news made me sick when I read it yesterday. I had a mini-meltdown on Twitter. Until it occurred to me that this news might actually be a biscuit-tingler. We’ll see. Anyway, the news! Hollywood has long been gestating a desire to sh*t on the late Jeff Buckley’s memory by doing some kind of hipster bio-pic. For those who don’t know, Jeff Buckley was an extremely talented singer-songwriter who died tragically at the age of 30. He had the voice of an angel, and oh yeah, he was really, really hot too. And now Hollywood is going to disinter his remains and take a dump on them.

Welcome To The Rileys helmer Jake Scott has been set to direct an untitled film about Jeff Buckley, the rising star musician who died tragically at age 30 in 1997. Scott will direct a script by Ryan Jaffe (The Rocker). Michelle Sy and Orian Williams are producing, and Buckley’s mother Mary Guibert will be exec producer.

Buckley, son of the famed but troubled folk musician Tim Buckley, became an influence on musicians from Kurt Cobain to Coldplay. He shunned the spotlight, though, preferring to play small clubs and who for a long time played as a session guitarist to make a living. He recorded one hit album, Grace, and was on his way to doing another when he jumped into Tennessee’s Wolf River, fully clothed, for a spontaneous swim. He got caught in the wake of a passing boat and drowned.

Music rights to Buckley’s songs are part of the rights package and the producers have also optioned the David Browne book Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley, as a resource. Browne will be a consultant. Development of the project was funded by Houston-based financier Amy Vaughan King, and the producers are currently assembling the film’s financing in anticipation of a fall start. UTA reps Scott, who has directed videos with U2, R.E.M., Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cranberries and others. Jaffe’s repped by WME.

[From Deadline]

This project has been discussed for many, many years, and I always kind of hoped that nothing would ever come of it. It’s just too… too much. Don’t do it. But it’s happening, and now we have to think about casting. The too-obvious choice is James Franco, who, as you can see, looks a great deal like Jeff Buckley. But is that pick too “on the nose”? And would Franco’s prevalent douche sink his chances to play Buckley? One would hope. The second obvious choice is probably Robert Pattinson – he too looks a bit like Buckley, and Sparkles probably has a leg up considering her already plays the guitar and sings (he writes his own music too, right?). Other names that I could see being considered: Andrew Garfield, Joaquin Phoenix, Joseph Gordon Levitt, or even Jared Leto. All terrible ideas.

But my choice is genius, and it’s the only casting choice I will no accept without throwing a massive tantrum: Michael Fassbender as Jeff Buckley! COME ON. Make it happen! They’re both beautiful, they both melt panties, they need to come together in one role and sing directly to me:

Archival images of Buckley, via Google Images. Additional pics by WENN.