Music Biopics: Is The Formula Sustainable?

Timothée Chalamet’s performance as Bob Dylan in the recent music biopic, A Complete Unknown, is fantastic. Chalamet’s distinct Dylan-esque mannerisms and acute nasally vocals emulate “Bobby” to a degree that even if audience members are not innately familiar with Dylan’s style, they can see this guy studied. Chalamet did, in fact, having spent five years preparing for the role. Despite his critically acclaimed portrayal, the movie’s structure mirrored the many music biopics that have come before it -- it didn’t help that the director James Mangold also directed the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. 

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The typical music biopic’s storyline is illustrated by extended music sequences, struggles with amounting fame, fallouts with early supporters of the artist, and a final concert that is culturally defining, perfectly concluding the narrative. This structure, while lucrative to the film industry, typically lacks the emotional depth and authenticity of the artist or group it pays homage to. If this formulaic approach to music biopics continues, audiences will be less inclined to spend their money on watching another “tortured artist” story unfold again. 

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Music biopics have been produced since the early days of cinema, but their popularity has surged within the last decade. Mega hits like Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), Rocketman (2019) and Elvis (2022) drew in millions of dollars at the box office, with Bohemian Rhapsody grossing over $900 million worldwide. Not only are these movies cash cows for studios, they historically come with multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor/Actress to recognize the preparation and dedication of the actors. Austin Butler’s portrayal of Elvis Presley was an inescapable topic of discourse online after the movie’s release. In multiple interviews and acceptance speeches after filming, Butler continued to use his “Elvis Voice” because he was unable to revert back to his own speaking voice. The public had mixed feelings about his commitment to the craft, but it does prove that many of these actors spend months, if not years, studying every facet of the artist to ensure they become fully engulfed by their persona. In contrast, Better Man (2024) depicts Robbie Williams as a CGI monkey. Williams has described himself as a “performing monkey” throughout his lengthy career, so director Michael Gracey thought it would be creative to portray Williams as a monkey rather than using a familiar  actor to minimize the physical comparisons and focus on the story being told. It was refreshing to see a bold twist to the typical music biopic recipe, but unfortunately it did not resonate with audiences, grossing only $17.2 million on a $110 million budget. 

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Actors’ performances in music biopics do not always reflect the quality of the film as a whole, yet watching the drastic transformation of an actor into a music artist can be enough for audiences to have a generally positive feeling toward the film. When the actor's performance fully embodies the artist, it’s easy to ignore glaring inaccuracies and lazy storytelling many music biopics fall victim to. Hollywood filmmakers continually prefer flashy vignettes as long as it serves the film’s overall goal-- to entertain. The grand “live” performances are a staple and can take up well over half of the film’s entire runtime if they are exciting enough. Montages over the artist’s music are used by filmmakers to bypass years of an artist’s life to get to the next pivotal moment, emulating whiplash to send audiences to yet another party, another drug, and another meltdown. The cycle that is seemingly cutting edge has become monotonous, which begs the question, have audiences had enough? 

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Sustaining the popularity of music biopics is reliant on their authenticity to the artists they embody. There has to be a better balance of entertainment and credible storytelling so there is not a question of deceit to casual watchers, but more importantly, the die hard fans. It is naive to think some plot points will not be dramatized or left out completely, but when the story filmmakers are trying to convey is changed in a way that makes the story false or at worst, unrecognizable, it feels disrespectful to both the artist and their fans. Fans are the reason these music biopics are churned out year after year, as they crave a glimpse into the lives of their favorite artists, but the genre’s success has had an inverse correlation to the reliability of accurate storytelling, leaving fans frustrated and the future of the genre uncertain. 

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In Bohemian Rhapsody, there are a handful of scenes that involve iconic frontman of Queen, Freddie Mercury, expressing his desire to pursue a solo career that is a continuous issue between the rest of the band members. It goes as far as to insinuate that Mercury was apathetic about this choice and it was something he had to do for himself before they were to perform at Live Aid, a benefit concert held in 1985 to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. In reality, Mercury was the third member of Queen to release a solo project; his just happened to be released right before the Live Aid show. He never broke up the band for his solo aspirations-- Queen continued to make records following Live Aid and posthumous records were released following Mercury’s death in 1991. Rewriting the history of someone’s life to this degree is harmful to the legacy of the artist, especially if the artist has passed and cannot provide their own perspective. In the midst of creating entertainment, we cannot forget that these are real people these stories are depicting. 

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These films are almost always flawed, but they are also a way to gain new fans, especially if the represented artist is from decades prior. Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) is based on the life of country music queen, Loretta Lynn. The film was based on Lynn’s rise to fame in the 60s and 70s from her humble beginnings in the mountains of Kentucky. The film grossed $67 million - approx. $250 million in 2025 - and opened up a world to a slew of fans who otherwise would have never discovered Lynn’s catalog. The success of this particular film can be attributed to Sissy Spacek’s performance of Lynn, but unlike other imitation games some actors play, Spacek captured the nuance and depth of Lynn while bringing her own personal touch to the performance. It may seem counterintuitive for an actor to bring their own personality to their portrayal, yet it resonates because it’s original.

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Music biopics do not seem to be pumping the breaks anytime soon: The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna projects are all currently in the works. But I do fear that if Hollywood filmmakers aren’t careful, biopics will not be the foolproof money-makers they once were.

The cycles of toxicity within the music industry that are depicted in these movies have so much more to them than party sequences and overdoses. If directors can tap into why artists struggle so deeply with fame and the emotions that overcome them during the journey, these stories will resonate better with broad audiences and fandoms alike. We want to see the person behind the icon, not a romanticized, CliffsNotes version of artists’ entire career set to a Greatest Hits soundtrack. The way to support the beauty of an individual artist is to treat them that way when they’re being portrayed in film-- a unique individual.

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