Bon Jovi Biopic Gears Up at Universal to Rock the Big Screen
Universal Pictures is tuning up a Bon Jovi biopic, diving into the band’s scrappy early days and the anthems that electrified ’80s kids. Turn it up.
Dust off the Aqua Net and locate a leopard scarf: Universal just snagged a Bon Jovi biopic, and it is headed straight for the band’s big-hair, bigger-chorus origin story.
The angle
This one digs into the band’s early climb from New Jersey bars to global arenas. The story runs through their breakout third album, Slippery When Wet, which turned Bon Jovi from local heroes into a stadium act. That record alone moved north of 30 million copies and packed in the kind of anthems that still get screamed in sports arenas.
Who is making it
Multiple studios chased the project; Universal came out on top. Jon Bon Jovi is directly involved in the creative process and is opening up the band’s music library, which means the movie won’t be dancing around the hits with soundalikes.
Cody Brotter (Drudge) is writing the script. His most recent gig was a rewrite on Doug Liman’s upcoming crypto thriller, Killing Satoshi. Producing are Kevin J. Walsh (Manchester by the Sea) and Gotham Chopra. Chopra’s Religion of Sports also produced the recent docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, so there is recent, deep-dive homework behind the scenes.
Count on hearing...
- Livin' on a Prayer
- You Give Love a Bad Name
- Runaway
- Wanted Dead or Alive
- Thank You For Loving Me
Timeline-wise, expect the film to track the band’s formation and grind, then crest with Slippery When Wet’s arrival and the instant sing-along era that followed. Casting will be everything here, but with the catalog unlocked and the band in the loop, the needle drops alone might carry half the room.