Motley Crue, a rock band formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, had their music biopic The Dirt released on Netflix Thursday, according to Variety. The film is based on Neil Strauss’s book titled “The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band.” Dirt underwent a 13 year production process.
The film is an unfiltered version of the life the band members had as rockstars. “There’s no varnish in this movie, no whitewashing,” says Allen Kovac, the manager for the band and one of the film’s producers. The film’s development encountered an obstacle when Tom Freston, the person who first optioned the book to MTV films, was fired from his position as CEO of Viacom. The project regained its momentum in 2015 when Focus Features became in charge.
Jeff Tremaine, the director of the biopic, stated that it took a while to write the script in order to capture the complexity of the characters and the layers of the story they were trying to present. He also felt that the actors playing the band members should not spend much time with them, instead “making each character their own.”
Crue’s bassist Nikki Sixx felt that Netflix was the best way to release the film. Sixx stated that the this was the best way to access a larger crowd and connect with fans who are coming to know rock-and-roll.