Overview
- Billy Joel’s spokesperson said Tuesday that the filmmakers lack his life and music rights and called efforts to move ahead “legally and professionally misguided.”
- The in-development feature, titled Billy & Me, is framed through first manager Irwin Mazur’s perspective, with Mazur’s and drummer Jon Small’s life rights secured and Small attached as consultant and co-executive producer.
- John Ottman is set to direct with Adam Ripp writing and producing, and casting is underway with a fall shoot planned in Winnipeg and New York.
- Ripp says the movie is not a cradle-to-grave biopic and is not built around Joel’s original song catalog, focusing instead on his formative years before Piano Man.
- Key questions remain over how the film will handle Joel’s music without rights and whether it will depict Elizabeth Weber, raising practical hurdles for the soundtrack and potential distribution.