We caught wind of some news about the Liberace biopic coming out from Steven Soderbergh, and assurances that the movie will show off the talents of Liberace, not just his lifestyle.
“Liberace” is tentatively scheduled to begin shooting in 2010 with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, and will focus on the flamboyant pianist’s turbulent relationship with his companion Scott Thorson in the final decade of his life.
Thorson, who would be played by Damon, filed a $113 million palimony suit against the entertainer in 1982, but ended up settling out of court for a far lesser sum of money. The story promises a great deal of drama, and some insight into the secretive personal life of one of popular culture’s legendary closeted superstars, but the filmmaker also promises not to ignore his subject’s virtuosity and showmanship.
“There are performance scenes,” Soderbergh told MTV News. “It’s important that you either understand why he was as famous as he was, or to wonder why he was as famous as he was. You need to see what he did.”
I think this is a very important part of a Biopic. The players involved need to be fleshed out so that you care about their story, however I was never a fan of Liberace, so I likely won’t be a fan of a biopic on his life. Aside from his flamboyant flair, I couldn’t name one song he was famous for.
However I think the darker fate for this movie will be the homophobes who will attempt to bash this movie for the portrayal of a gay relationship instead of just passing it by for not being their preference. Some people are still uncomfortable seeing a gay couple on screen (fortunately this is slowly becoming a non-issue) but instead of just choosing not to see it they will make the effort to attack it instead.
