This is the music biopic that I think would gather a lot of interest and big box office receipts. For one, Harry and Blondie are perennial favourites. They are always popular and cool. A biopic would tell their story and help bring their music and story to new generations. There are a couple of different avenues that a biopic could take. One could focus entirely on Debbie Harry. Based on her memoir, Face It, it would be pretty faithful to the narrative:
“As a musician, an actor, a muse, an icon, the breadth of Debbie Harry’s impact on our culture has been matched by her almost Sphinx-like reticence about her inner life. Through it all – while being acclaimed as one of the most beautiful women in the world, prized by a galaxy of leading photographers and fashion designers, beloved by legions of fans for her relentless, high-octane performances, selling 50 million albums or being painted by Andy Warhol – Debbie Harry has infused her perennial Blondie persona with a heady mix of raw sexuality and sophisticated punk cool.
In Face It, Debbie Harry invites us into the complexity of who she is and how her life and career have played out over the last seven decades. Upending the standard music memoir, with a cutting-edge style keeping with the distinctive qualities of her multi-disciplined artistry, Face It includes a thoughtful introduction by Chris Stein, rare personal photos, original illustrations, fan artwork installations and more.
Peppered with colourful characters, Face It features everyone from bands Blondie came up with on the 1970s music scene – The Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop and David Bowie – to artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marina AbramoviÄ and H.R. Giger of Alien fame. It explores her successful acting career (she has starred in over 30 film roles, including David Cronenberg’s Videodrome and John Waters’s Hairspray), her weekends with William S. Burroughs and her attempted abduction by serial killer Ted Bundy. Ranging from the hardscrabble grit and grime of the early New York City years to times of glorious commercial success, interrupted by a plunge into heroin addiction, the near-death of partner Chris Stein, a heart-wrenching bankruptcy and Blondie’s break-up as a band, an amazing solo career and then a stunning return with Blondie, this is a cinematic story of an artist who has always set her own path. Inspirational, entertaining, shocking, humorous and eye-opening, Face It is a memoir as dynamic as its subject”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Blondie in 1979. From left: guitarist Frank Infante, guitarist Chris Stein, bass player Nigel Harrison, Debbie Harry, keyboard player Jimmy Destri and drummer Clem Burke/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
Alternately, it could focus a bit on Harry as a pioneer and hugely talented female lead in New York at a time when there were few musicians like her. Beginning with the co-founding of Blondie by Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, the biopic could tell of the band as a pioneer force in the New Wave scene of the mid-1970s in New York. It would look at the scene around Blondie, scored by the band’s music, songs from the time and the sights and sounds of New York. The film would take us to the point where the band’s third studio album, Parallel Lines, sees Blondie elevated to new heights in 1978. Rather than it being a chronological film about the band starting out and finding success, we would look at the way Debbie Harry had to face sexism and those who, at first, refused to take her seriously. In both scenarios, it would be hugely enjoyable and informative. Even if you are a huge fan of Blondie, a biopic would provide new information and revelations. Although Margot Robbie now is thirty-one – older than Harry was when she formed Blondie -, it would not be a huge sticking point. Also, Robbie is taller than Debbie Harry. Apart from that, she would be a fantastic fit. There have not been that many music biopics set in the mid to late-1970s. Blondie are one of the most popular and important bands ever, yet there has not been a big screen look at the band’s formation and rise to success.
It would be fascinating seeing New York in this period and the clash between Punk and New Wave. A compelling and powerful figure like Debbie Harry arriving on the music scene as the lead of the amazing Blondie. So many people would love to see that. If the biopic had the sign-off of the band – and they were involved in the creative process -, then I think that it would be a triumph. I am not sure whether there are any plans afoot for a Blondie film, though there definitely should be. Their story and success is hugely compelling and inspiring. I am not sure what the biopic would be called, but it would probably be based around one of their songs or albums. I have suggested Margot Robbie as Debbie Harry, yet there are other actors who could fit the bill. Above all, the amazing music the band have made would make the biopic so watchable and addictive! Maybe it will not happen this year, but a 2023 biopic of the stunning Blondie is something that would translate to the big screen so easily. It would be good to see it happen…
