This Cillian Murphy film has been on shelves for over a decade
The big picture
- The film Hippie hippie shakebased on the disputed oz The magazine’s editor, Richard Neville, has endured numerous delays and setbacks since its inception in the late 1990s.
- Production was marked by chaos and behind-the-scenes conflict, including falling out with Germaine Greer, one of the film’s protagonists, and the departure of director Beeban Kidron.
- Despite positive reviews at test screenings and support from the cast, the film was ultimately shelved due to financial difficulties and internal problems at the studio. It is unlikely to be released any time soon.
There are countless reasons a film might not come out on its scheduled release date, as the process of putting together an ambitious film production is never predictable. A movie like Mad Max: Fury Road It took over a decade of reboots, production halts, studio delays and release date changes before it finally hit theaters in 2015 and was immediately hailed as the great masterpiece of all time; Terry Gilliamstruggles to realize his passion project The man who killed Don Quixote The project, completed after years of creative and financial setbacks, even inspired the independent documentary The man from La Macha to record his journey. However, there are some films that have gone through almost all sorts of setbacks and delays and yet have not been seen by audiences. The Cillian Murphy star vehicle Hippie hippie shake Pre-production began in the late 1990s and went through a tumultuous behind-the-scenes process before filming could even begin. Although the film is more or less complete now, it has yet to be officially distributed in some form and audiences are unlikely to see it any time soon. What made this weird Aussie biopic so controversial?
What is “Hippie Hippie Shake”?
Hippie hippie shake loosely based on the autobiography of Richard Nevillethe hugely influential (but very controversial) editor of the offbeat Australian satirical magazine oz. Long before the days of Harvard Lampoon or the trials of Larry Flynt, oz has been extremely controversial in Australia for its scathing satire, ragged characterization of recent events and frequent salacious material. oz started as a basic publication under Neville’s direct control in Sydney, Australia, in the early 1960s when the counterculture movement was in full swing; It inspired a parallel London edition that first appeared in 1967 and later became a phenomenon. However, Neville’s interest in including taboo subjects such as state-sponsored racism, censorship, homosexuality, police brutality and the Vietnam War sparked intense public backlash This resulted in two separate court cases in which the publication was tried for obscenity.
Obviously it’s a great story that would definitely be worthy of an exciting historical biography. During the 1990s, several films about controversial public figures were successful, including The people against Larry Flynt And man in the Moonso a biopic about Neville seemed almost guaranteed to be a big hit. Working Title Film Productions acquired the rights to Neville’s memoirs Hippie Hippie Shake: The dreams, the journeys, the trials, the love affairs, the failures: The sixties in 1998 and dedicated screenwriter Don MacPherson to write the first draft. The initial production delay was unclear, however Hippie hippie shake was Back on course in 2002 with the acclaimed British filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, The Four Feathers, Elizabeth: The Golden Age) behind it, as well as a new screenplay by Kapur’s favorite screenwriter Tom Butterworth. Unfortunately, this seemingly promising sign of progress only led to further delay.
Like Neville himself, Working Title was determined to make their voices heard and make a third and final attempt to conform Hippie hippie shake started to move forward in May 2007. A talented filmmaker was behind the production Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason director Beeban Kidron behind the camera and a cast was formed to play the various characters in Neville’s life. The stacked ensemble included Cillian Murphy as Neville, Sienna Miller as Neville’s longtime friend Louise Ferrier, Nina Liu like the famous fashion designer Jenny Kee, Emma Booth as Germaine Greer, and Tom Goodman-Hill as David Frost. Other notable British actors set to perform included the BAFTA nominee Derek Jacobi, Max Minghella, Chris O’Dowd, Hugh Bonneville, Matthew Beard, And Margo Stilley, among others.
There are further delays with “Hippie Hippie Shake”.
gladiator screenwriter William Nicholson had helped write an additional draft of the screenplay used for the film Filming actually began in 2007. Little is known about the shooting process itself, but apparently the production was so turbulent that it wreaked havoc at Lucasfilm Solo: A Star Wars Story looks like smooth sailing. It’s always difficult for biopics to stand on their own when the subjects are still alive; While Neville himself supported the film, real-life feminist author Germaine Greer wrote a seething piece for it The guard by called out the movie and expressed her displeasure at being played by Booth. She explained in her Piece that the idea of being portrayed infuriated her, and mused that “you used to have to die before various hackers started eating your remains and sculpting a new version of you out of your own excrement.” Additionally, Kidron left the film in the middle of post-production, at the helm of her husband (and the film’s co-writer) Lee Hall to complete the project.
This happened to coincide with Working Title’s financial difficulties Neville himself stated that “Universal Pictures decided to put the film on hold and save themselves a lot of tax payments.” He further claimed that while the film’s rough cut didn’t live up to their expectations, a second cut made a significant improvement. During a promotional tour a few years later for live by night, Miller resigned He backed up his claims by agreeing, “I don’t think we’re going to see it at this point,” but rather that “I saw a rough cut of it and it was quite a nice film.” A test screening reaction from Isn’t that cool news? in 2008 reported that One test reviewer said he “really enjoyed it,” despite “some predictable scenes, some clumsy acting, and some bad jokes.”
It doesn’t look like it Hippie hippie shake will be released soon, and that’s unfortunate. It was undoubtedly a tremendous struggle to bring this story to the screen, and a film about the importance of a free press and the ability to hear opposing opinions could be particularly relevant at this time. It’s quite unsettling when studios can just cancel a project’s release and then cancel it bat girl recently reminded movie buffs that this can happen with any type of project. Hopefully Hippie hippie shake will eventually be released on a streaming platform as it will at least give us a great Cillian Murphy performance for sure.
