Major Studio Wins Bidding War for Bon Jovi Biopic

It's not quite "halfway there," but there is movement on a Bon Jovi biopic.

According to Variety, Universal has emerged as the studio that will back the film after a bidding war took place to secure the film.

These appear to still be early days in the development of the film. So far, we know that Cody Brotter has been hired to write the screenplay for the movie, but no director is attached as of yet and no casting decisions have been made about who will portray the members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band.

What Else Do We Know About the Bon Jovi Biopic?

Producers on the Bon Jovi movie include Kevin J. Walsh and Gotham Chopra of Religion of Sports. The new film is not to be confused with Thank You, Goodnight, the band's four-part 2024 docuseries for Hulu. Chopra also served as a director on the Hulu series.

READ MORE: Why Jon Bon Jovi Wasn't That Impressed by His Biggest Hit

While Brotter works on the screenplay, the film does have a timeline from which to work from. It's stated that the movie will focus on the band's formative years leading up to when they started generating rock anthems that filled stadiums. Included in that will be the era in which that band made the jump to being major superstars over the course of their third studio album, Slippery When Wet.

Bon Jovi's Early Years

Jon Bon Jovi's passion for music started early, with the singer forming a band with David Bryan when he was just 16. After playing the New Jersey clubs, the singer recorded his first single "Runaway" in 1980 while backed by studio musicians.

By 1982, Bon Jovi took a job at a recording studio and he also worked writing jingles for a local radio station. It was the latter experience that landed "Runaway" on a radio station compilation and eventually started getting the aspiring singer some notice. He put together a group of musicians to play along with him at shows supporting the song and Bon Jovi started to take off from there.

Though "Runaway" got some national play, the band's first two albums — a self-titled set and 7800° Fahrenheit —struggled to garner a huge response, but the band's fortunes changed for the better after teaming with fellow musician-songwriter Desmond Child and producer Bruce Fairbairn for their third album, 1986's Slippery When Wet.

From there, huge success, multi-platinum record sales, awards and major acclaim followed en route to their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

The addition of a Bon Jovi biopic seems fitting given Hollywood's success with music biopics in recent years. Check out a list of acts we feel are deserving of potential big screen biopics in the gallery below.