It's NOT Lindsay Lohan... thank goodness. The story, from rollingstone.com:
Deschanel Channels Joplin
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by Sarah Hall
[/FONT][FONT=verdana,helvetica]Sep 19, 2006, 1:15 PM PT
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Could a long-delayed Janis Joplin biopic finally be making its way to the big screen?
After changes to both the script and cast, The Gospel According to Janis is scheduled to begin filming in November, Daily Variety reports.
Zooey Deschanel has been cast as the rock legend in the indie film, replacing Pink, who was director Penelope Spheeris' first choice for the role.
The "Stupid Girls" singer has often expressed her reverence for Joplin, but dropped out of the project last spring due to a scheduling conflict.
Other stars who were reportedly considered for the role included Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson and even Britney Spears.
Producer Peter Newman said the challenge lay in finding an actress who was a talented enough singer, or a singer who was a talented enough actress to carry the role. "Zooey is the first person we found who excels at both," he told Daily Variety.
Deschanel will sing all of Joplin's tunes in the film, Newman said. The actress briefly showcased her vocal chops in 2003's Elf and has reportedly spent the last four months honing her voice to approximate Joplin's gritty sound.
Author David Dalton, who once toured with Joplin while researching a cover story on her for Rolling Stone, cowrote a new version of the script, which is now based on his adventures with the troubled singer, Newman said.
The search is on for an actor to portray Dalton in the film, which is scheduled to begin shooting Nov. 13 in Philadelphia.
The start date puts the film ahead of a second Joplin biopic, starring Renée Zellweger, which has also been stalled for years.
The competing project, titled Piece of My Heart, remains in the works, though it has been put into turnaround by Paramount. The production company behind the film is reportedly in talks with other studios and is bringing in a new team of writers to rework the script. Before Zellweger, several other actresses were attached to the film, including Brittany Murphy, Courtney Love and Lili Taylor.
Meanwhile, Search for the Pearl, a reality show involving a nationwide search for the next Joplin has been canceled by the late singer's estate, according to a statement posted Sept. 11 on JanisJoplin.tv.
"We are sorry to inform you that the estate of Janis Joplin has decided that it no longer wants to move forward with the Search for the Pearl project," the statement read in part.
"We are truly sorry to see this project come to an end, as we, along with many of you, truly believed it would have been a fitting tribute to the legacy of Janis Joplin."
Joplin died of a heroin overdose in 1970 at age 27. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and honored with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2005. In both cases the big-voiced songbird was feted by Melissa Etheridge--yet another person who was at one point lined up to play Joplin in Piece of My Heart.
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Deschanel Channels Joplin
[FONT=verdana,helvetica]
by Sarah Hall
[/FONT][FONT=verdana,helvetica]Sep 19, 2006, 1:15 PM PT
[/FONT][FONT=verdana,helvetica]
Could a long-delayed Janis Joplin biopic finally be making its way to the big screen?
After changes to both the script and cast, The Gospel According to Janis is scheduled to begin filming in November, Daily Variety reports.
Zooey Deschanel has been cast as the rock legend in the indie film, replacing Pink, who was director Penelope Spheeris' first choice for the role.
The "Stupid Girls" singer has often expressed her reverence for Joplin, but dropped out of the project last spring due to a scheduling conflict.
Other stars who were reportedly considered for the role included Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson and even Britney Spears.
Producer Peter Newman said the challenge lay in finding an actress who was a talented enough singer, or a singer who was a talented enough actress to carry the role. "Zooey is the first person we found who excels at both," he told Daily Variety.
Deschanel will sing all of Joplin's tunes in the film, Newman said. The actress briefly showcased her vocal chops in 2003's Elf and has reportedly spent the last four months honing her voice to approximate Joplin's gritty sound.
Author David Dalton, who once toured with Joplin while researching a cover story on her for Rolling Stone, cowrote a new version of the script, which is now based on his adventures with the troubled singer, Newman said.
The search is on for an actor to portray Dalton in the film, which is scheduled to begin shooting Nov. 13 in Philadelphia.
The start date puts the film ahead of a second Joplin biopic, starring Renée Zellweger, which has also been stalled for years.
The competing project, titled Piece of My Heart, remains in the works, though it has been put into turnaround by Paramount. The production company behind the film is reportedly in talks with other studios and is bringing in a new team of writers to rework the script. Before Zellweger, several other actresses were attached to the film, including Brittany Murphy, Courtney Love and Lili Taylor.
Meanwhile, Search for the Pearl, a reality show involving a nationwide search for the next Joplin has been canceled by the late singer's estate, according to a statement posted Sept. 11 on JanisJoplin.tv.
"We are sorry to inform you that the estate of Janis Joplin has decided that it no longer wants to move forward with the Search for the Pearl project," the statement read in part.
"We are truly sorry to see this project come to an end, as we, along with many of you, truly believed it would have been a fitting tribute to the legacy of Janis Joplin."
Joplin died of a heroin overdose in 1970 at age 27. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and honored with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2005. In both cases the big-voiced songbird was feted by Melissa Etheridge--yet another person who was at one point lined up to play Joplin in Piece of My Heart.
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Kind of exciting... 
Somehow, I can kind of see why they though of Pink first.... but in my mind Pink is Pink, I'll always think of her as "that tomboyish singer with pink hair" 
the movie kinda sucked but her lil side character bit was like the best part......zoey's so cute! i think she'll be great in this movie
