{"id":681690,"date":"2026-05-20T10:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/681690\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T10:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:41:10","slug":"billy-joel-denies-rights-for-proposed-biopic-charting-his-life-pre-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/681690\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Joel Denies Rights for Proposed Biopic Charting His Life Pre-Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billy Joel spoke out against an in-the-works biopic from director John Ottman on Tuesday, saying that the life and music rights needed for the film have been denied for years and to move forward with it would be \u201cboth legally and professionally misguided.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2021, the parties involved have been officially notified that they do not possess Billy Joel\u2019s life rights and will not be able to secure the music rights required for this project,\u201d a spokesperson for Joel said in a statement to TheWrap. \u201cBilly Joel has not authorized or supported this project in any capacity, and any attempt to move forward without it would be both legally and professionally misguided.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project, titled \u201cBilly and Me,\u201d is currently casting and said to be from the perspective of his first manager Irwin Mazur. It involves creative contributions from Joel\u2019s former bandmate and friend Jon Small, with whom the Grammy winner had a notorious rift after Small\u2019s wife, Elizabeth Weber, left him for Joel and later inspired such classic songs as \u201cShe\u2019s Got a Way\u201d and \u201cJust the Way You Are.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The film, reportedly preparing to film between Canada and New York this fall, has Small attached as a co-executive producer, consultant and second unit director. It is intended to depict Joel\u2019s career pre-fame and \u201cPiano Man\u201d while working with Small and Mazur.<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly and Me\u201d comes in the footsteps of 2025\u2019s life-spanning HBO documentary from directors Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, \u201cBilly Joel: And So It Goes,\u201d<\/a> which heavily featured Joel\u2019s involvement. <\/p>\n

Ottman was most recently lead editor on the Michael Jackson biopic, titled \u201cMichael,\u201d from filmmaker Antoine Fuqua and Lionsgate.<\/p>\n

Variety<\/a> first reported the news of \u201cBilly and Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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