Kurt Cobain biopic heating up at Universal

I’m not the world’s biggest Nirvana fan in the world but going through high school right during the height of their popularity, it’s hard not to feel some connection to their music. I remember in my freshman year talking to a really cute girl on the phone while “Smells Like Teen Spirit” premiered on MTV. But I didn’t bum out for weeks and hold a candlelight vigil when Kurt Cobain died either. I’m not really sure how I feel about the Cobain biopic other than I know it makes me feel old.

I thought the project, which David Benioff had been writing back in 2007, was in development hell but now Oren Moverman, a recent Oscar-nominee for THE MESSENGER, has been hired by Universal to write and direct the film. It’s looking like he’ll keep elements of Benioff’s script and just “rework” the existing draft.

Universal purchased the life rights to Cobain and Courtney Love back in 2007 as well as the rights to original Nirvana music to use in the film. My question though would be if bassist Krist Novocelic and Dave Grohl, who aren’t exactly on the best of terms with Love, need to sign off on this as well.

Whether or not a Cobain biopic would work depends largely on the success of the actor hired to play the legendary rocker. Is it possible that another Oscar nominee from this year could be in line? This is wild speculation but Jeremy Renner spoke to the New York Times and said he’s in talks to star in Peter Berg’s BATTLESHIP and another film that he declined to discuss. Could it be this film?

Renner, who’s a talented singer and guitarist in his own right, spoke to Interview last summer and said, “I think they’re gonna do a movie about Kurt Cobain. So that could be interesting. That would be a real challenge. It would be a lot of fun to explore that. I don’t know what else is out there, but that’s one that’s sort of banging around in Hollywood. So I’d give that a go. ”

To paraphrase C+C Music Factory, this is one of those things that make you go HMMMmmm….