EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures is tuning up a definitive biopic on the formative years of Bon Jovi, the quartet that emerged from humble New Jersey origins to sell over 130 million albums, and earn their way into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Multiple studios chased the project, and Universal just closed the deal.

The studio that made fact-based music biopics Straight Outta Compton and 8 Mile has invested in a package that will have the participation of leader Jon Bon Jovi and access to the band’s music library.

Cody Brotter has been set to write the script. The scribe first got notice for his Black List script Drudge, about the emergence of online political journalist Matt Drudge, and he most recently rewrote the crypto thriller Killing Satoshi for Doug Liman, and another music-themed biopic for Mike Judge. His work also includes The Dukes of Oxy for MGM, Ron Ziegler for Amy Pascal and Chasing Phil for Team Downey.

The film will be produced by Kevin J. Walsh (The Instigators and Manchester By The Sea) and Gotham Chopra, whose Religion of Sports produced Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story. Chopra directed all four episodes of that 2024 Hulu documentary series on the band, made with full access to the band members, timed with Bon Jovi’s 40th anniversary.  

The film’s focus will be the formative years and the stepping stones to get to where the band’s rock anthems filled stadiums all over the world.

Jon Bongiovi was nudged toward music by his Beatles-obsessed mother, but the young man grew so frustrated by his early moments learning guitar in his Perth Amboy home that he tossed the instrument down the basement stairs and broke it. It wasn’t until his early teens, when he watched fellow Jersey artist Bruce Springsteen perform, that the young man saw what his future might be. He became relentless in his work ethic in pursuit of success. He picked back up the guitar, got the broken tuning peg fixed, and learned to play it and write songs. He cut his teeth in a number of local bands, evolving from cover tunes to originals.

He took a job as a gofer in his cousin’s Power Station studio in Manhattan, where he swept floors and hung around while groups like Aerosmith recorded their albums. He recorded his first songs there – among them the future hit Runaway – with the help of studio musicians. He was roundly rejected by all the labels whose busy execs were too focused on sure things to make time for a young artist finding his way. The singer had the idea to focus on the DJs at rock stations, who loved music and had nothing but time on their hands. A re-recorded Runaway found footing at WAPP, and soon the song was being played by rock stations all over New York.  

Now going by the name Jon Bon Jovi, the singer set out to capitalize on the momentum by quickly forming a band with the top local musicians who played the Stone Pony and other Jersey haunts. Keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, bassist Alec John Such were enlisted. The final key piece was Richie Sambora, a talented local guitarist and singer with whom Bon Jovi would mesh as songwriters and in duets. Embraced by the brash manager, Doc McGhee, Bon Jovi hit the road to find their sound.

There were growing pains galore: gifted with their first tour bus, the members had no idea what to pack; they had to turn the bus around to drop off items like fishing poles and bowling balls that crammed the bus. Bon Jovi emerged as a heartthrob front man. Though he was already coupled with high school girlfriend Dorothea – they married at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas in 1989 and are still together – Bon Jovi was urged to keep their relationship on the down low so he could appear the eligible bachelor.

The film will cover the band’s matriculation through Slippery When Wet, its third album which featured the stadium anthems Livin’ On A Prayer and You Give Love A Bad Name. The album sold 30 million copies and Bon Jovi became a touring juggernaut, with Bon Jovi hitting the impossible high notes that would catch up to him eventually. As much as Chopra’s docu covered the substance abuse issues and bandmember exits — the through line was Bon Jovi facing the mortality of his singing career when he was forced to get surgery on his vocal cords. It took awhile, but he built back to where he’s able to hit the high notes again to his satisfaction.   

Brotter is repped by CAA, Manage-ment and Ziffren Brittenham; Walsh by WME and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole, and Chopra by WME and Gang Tyre Ramer & Brown.