Keith Moon Biopic Starts Shooting This Summer

A biopic about The Who’s Keith Moon is in the works in Britain and scheduled to start filming in June.

An official title for the film has yet to be announced, but tentatively, the working title is “The Real Me,” named for a song on The Who’s 1973 Quadrophenia album.

Surviving Who band members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are on board as executive producers on the film, according to Variety. Paul Whittington (The Crown, White House Farm) is set to direct the biopic using the script written by the Oscar-nominated British screenwriter Jeff Pope (Philomena).

White Horse Pictures is the outfit producing the film, best known as the one that produced Martin Scorsese documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World, as well as Ron Howard’s Beatles documentary Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years.

Casting is already ongoing for a few months now, but there’s still no news on who is going to get the starring role.

Daltrey has first thought and discussed the concept of a Moon’s biopic in the early-2000s. He had explored the idea and had several attempts to have it done since 2013. In 2018 the singer said he wouldn’t be rushed into any decision because he wanted to ensure the outcome was a “movie, not just a biopic.”

In a separate interview, Daltrey said casting the lead role is,

“going to be very, very dependent on the actor and the actor’s eyes… you’ve got to cast it completely from the eyes because Moon had extraordinary eyes.”

Moon quickly made a name for himself with The Who in the rock industry with his impressive musicianship, revolutionary showmanship and energetic personality. But his good nature and talents were ruined by drug and alcohol addiction that made him unreliable and at times dangerous. Moon died of a drug overdose in 1978 at age 32.

Over the years, Daltrey knew that Moon’s chaotic life, extraordinary talent and tragic death would make a captivating film.

Daltrey said in one 2013 interview:

“He was such an enormous character. Every facet of his personality was way out there. He was the most loving; he could be the most hurtful, spiteful, most caring. It was completely… like fireworks.”