THE DOORS
From 1985 to 1997 I was a projectionist in a cinema, practically every day faxes would arrive informing me about movies that were going to be made. A fax arrived January 1990 from Guild Films in London (specially sent to me as I knew several of the girls that worked there and they knew I was a Doors fan). Imagine my delight when I saw this, for a year I waited to see it.
And then I did, imagine my horror…
Los Angeles, California…January 4 1990…Academy Award Winner Oliver Stone and the members of the rock group, THE DOORS, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore, announced today that a movie entitled “THE DOORS”, story of the late Jim Morrison, poet, lyricist and singer for THE DOORS will begin filming this spring for Carolco Pictures.
“THE DOORS” will be directed by Oliver Stone from his original screenplay. The film will be produced by Sasha Harari, Bill Graham and A. Kitman Ho. The executive producers are Mario T. Kassar, Nicolas Clainos and Brian Grazer. The rights to the music were granted by The Doors Music Co., with the cooperation of Elektra Records. THE DOORS are represented by their long-term associate, Danny Sugerman.
“After all these years we are happy that a film is being made and believe that Oliver Stone is the right man for the job,” said Danny Sugerman, spokesman for THE DOORS.
“THE DOORS” will star Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison and Meg Ryan as Pamela Morrison. Kyle McLachlan will portray Ray Manzarek, Kevin Dillon will play John Densmore and Frank Whaley portrays Robby Krieger.
Billy Idol and Kathleen Quinlan also star as close friends of Morrison’s. Mimi Rodgers will make a cameo appearance.
Certificate: tbc Running Time: tbc
homepage.tinet.ie/~mojodk/thedoors/doorsfax.htmlLos Angeles Times
Entertainment
TURNING MORRISON AND THE DOORS INTO A MOVIE
By JACK MATHEWS
September 03, 1987
The Doors may finally be opening in movie theaters.
For years, people have attempted to sew up the rights for a movie on the life of '60s rock star Jim Morrison and the Doors. There was even one film--"Eddie and the Cruisers"--that many people thought was a fictional account of the charismatic singer's mysterious death.
But with word this week that Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment, Inc. have picked up the project from Columbia Pictures, it looks as if it is soon to be a reality.
"We hope to be able to make the film in five months," said Grazer, who shares the title of Imagine chairman and chief executive officer with Howard. "Ron and I loved the Doors and we think there's a very inspirational story to tell."
Grazer said that he doesn't rule out the possibility that Howard might direct the film, but a decision about a director won't be made until a new script is ready. Imagine has assigned the script to Ralph Thomas, a former Canadian journalist who wrote and directed "A Ticket to Heaven."
Morrison, an enigmatic figure who died in Paris shortly after abandoning his rock career, has been the subject of prospecting film producers ever since his 1971 death. At one point, Morrison's younger sister tried to put together a movie, as did Danny Sugerman, who wrote the Morrison biography, "No One Here Gets Out Alive."
But attempts to round up all of the necessary rights had failed until agents Tony Krantz and Tony Ludwig, of Creative Artists Agency, put Israeli producer Sasha Harari and San Francisco rock impresario Bill Graham together three years ago.
Harari already had movie rights from the three surviving Doors band members and Graham--who had produced Doors concerts--was able to negotiate for the others.
Krantz and Ludwig sold the project to Columbia and then-chairman Guy McElwaine two years ago. Ludwig has since become president of Imagine's motion picture division and when he found out Columbia, under new management, was making it available, he completed the odd cycle of buying a project that he had previously sold.
Grazer said that Imagine will finance the film and attempt to negotiate a distribution deal with one of the majors. The movie's success would add an ironic footnote to the whole affair. Columbia's biggest 1986 hit is "La Bamba," a biographical film about Ritchie Valens, a lesser rock figure than Morrison and one with a far less dramatic story to tell.
Neither Valens nor Morrison was around long. Valens died in a plane crash nine months after cutting his first hit song. Morrison died under curious circumstances, reportedly from a heart attack about five years after beginning his career.
But Morrison and the Doors were huge overnight successes and were among the most popular groups internationally in the late '60s.
Their popularity has not waned. According to Bill Graham, who will co-produce "Riders" with Harari, the Doors are selling as well now as they did 20 years ago. Graham said the Doors catalogue (seven albums) is selling more than 1 million albums a year in the United States and almost as many abroad.
For comparison, Graham said, Janis Joplin--another major and ultimately tragic figure of '60s rock--is currently selling fewer than 50,000 albums a year.
Morrison himself has almost become the James Dean of rock 'n' roll, a cult figure whose persona and talents have been magnified by his death.
The Doors music, most of which was written by Morrison, was often lumped in with the "psychedelic rock" movement of its time, but it has transcended that label to help fuse the musical tastes of two generations. The group's best known song, "Light My Fire," is a perennial Top-10 finisher in audience polls of all-time rock favorites.
Said Imagine's Ludwig: "I think this is the first time in modern history where both parents and children are listening to the same music. That explains why 'La Bamba' is doing well, and why this picture will have something to say."
What "Riders on the Storm" (the title of a Doors hit) will specifically have to say is being kept secret by the principals involved. Grazer said he and Howard like the mythic quality of the story. Graham said his interest in the project is to accurately depict the atmosphere and mood of the '60s, which he said hasn't been done in a rock setting yet.
"The '60s was the most exciting period I would ever expect to live through," Graham said. "No matter how you lived, or how you felt about what was going on, we all knew there was an attempt by young people at affecting a positive alternative society. . . . Morrison and the Doors were thrust into a position of leadership. They were made to be sociological heroes rather than entertainment heroes."
Graham thinks the suddenness and intensity of the Doors' success was responsible for a lot of Morrison's self-destructive life style and his erratic behavior on stage. Morrison often performed drunk and in one highly publicized incident, he was arrested for exposing himself during a Florida concert.
No matter how accurately Imagine attempts to tell the Jim Morrison story, it will have to overcome some major unknown factors. The first is why Morrison quit so abruptly and moved to Paris. The other is how--indeed, if --he died.
Morrison's death was not announced until after his reported burial in a Paris cemetery, which was more than enough to fuel the imagination of his fans and enough to lead even some friends to wonder if he hadn't just ducked out of society--as he had talked of doing--to write poetry.
Morrison, who reportedly had an IQ of 146, preferred to be thought of as a poet rather than a rock singer and he had recorded 20 hours of his poetry, some of which were later adapted by the remaining Doors--Robbie Krieger, John Densmore and Ray Manzarek--for the album "An American Prayer."
Ludwig said that screenwriter Thomas uncovered something in his own research about Morrison's youth that will help explain some of his later behavior and that this bit of information will serve as a psychological thread for the profile.
Co-producer Harari, who estimated the film's cost at between $8 million and $12 million, said original Doors music will be used on the soundtrack, but that there will be only two or three major concert scenes.
END.
The Doors Are Re-Opening
By Steve Batlin
Rolling Stone
Aug 12 2005
The Doors Are Reopening
Surviving members rolling out box set, live CDs and more for anniversary
Despite battling each other in the courts, the surviving members of the Doors have been working together on plans for the band's fortieth anniversary in 2007. The festivities will begin early, with the limited-edition box set Love/Death/Travel this October, followed a month later by the two-volume, double-CD set tentatively titled The Doors -- Live in Boston, capturing singer Jim Morrison and Co. in 1970.
"The surviving Doors have been friends, co-workers and partners for thirty-eight years, and they've always had a deep and abiding love and respect for each other," says co-manager Jeff Jampol. "There was a disagreement among them over an isolated issue, but they are working together on the many plans we have to bring the music and the magic of the Doors to a whole new generation of fans." Drummer John Densmore recently won an injunction against keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger, who had been touring with former Cult frontman Ian Astbury as the Doors of the 21st Century, preventing his former bandmates from performing or recording under any name that includes "the Doors."
Love/Death/Travel features three CDs, a DVD of live footage, hand-signed lithographs by designer Shepard Fairy of Obey Giant and previously unreleased photos of the band from photographer Joel Brodsky's famed 1967 shoot. The set, which kicks off with "Break on Through (To the Other Side)," spans the band's entire catalogue -- from such obvious hits as "When the Music's Over" and "Soul Kitchen" to the less-predictable inclusions "Land of the Highway" and "Blue Sunday," penned by Morrison and Krieger. Additionally, the DVD will preview three tracks in 5.1 surround sound -- "Hello, I Love You," "The Unknown Soldier" and "Riders on the Storm" -- from the remastered catalogue, due next year, and feature remixes by British electronica DJs Paul Oakenfold ("L.A. Woman") and BT ("Break on Through"), and L.A.'s the Crystal Method ("Roadhouse Blues").
"It's time to introduce the Doors to the hip-hop generation," Manzarek says of the remixes, "and that's what we're setting out to do."
The box set's title comes from a 1967 Morrison quote, in which he said, "All our songs are about love, travel and death." Only 5,000 copies will be produced, with half going to industry members and half available through Rhino Handmade's Web site.
Also in the works, for release in 2007, is a Doors documentary, produced by Law & Order creator Dick Wolf and directed by two-time Oscar winner Bill Guttentag. The film will feature never-before-seen footage of the band.www.rollingstone.com/artists/thed....s_are_reopeningDoors relight their fire
Wolf, Peralta honoring band's anni with films
By PHIL GALLO
April 7 2006 Variety
Dick Wolf is producing a full-length documentary on
the Doors for theatrical release, and "Dogtown"
chronicler Stacy Peralta is assembling a social
history doc to coincide with the 40th anniversary of
the iconic L.A. rock band.
Project from Wolf will include unreleased footage and
interviews with the parents and sister of the band's
late lead singer, Jim Morrison. Bill Guttentag, who
won an Oscar for helming Wolf Films' short docu "Twin
Towers," will direct.
www.variety.com/article/VR1117941135.html?categoryid=13&cs=1Cinematical News
Mmm ... The Doors
Posted Apr 7th 2006 8:00PM
by Martha Fischer
Filed under: Documentary, Music & Musicals, Fandom, Newsstand
Based on Variety's massive list of the releases that are planned to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Doors, I'm apparently the only person on earth who had no idea the blessed event was (nearly) upon us. In addition to the CD reissues and boxed sets, there are also two movies in the works that will celebrate the band.
The first, an untitled, feature-length documentary that is being co-produced by TV king Dick Wolf and the three surviving Doors, "will include unreleased footage and interviews with the parents and sister of...Jim Morrison." So, basically, it's a straightforward, retrospective look at the band. The second project, however, sounds potentially more interesting.
Skater-turned-director Stacy Peralta (best known in the movie world for directing Dogtown and Z-Boys, and writing Lords of Dogtown) is putting together his own doc about the band. Entitled Six Nights, Six Records, Six Years, Peralta's film is described as "a social history overview as seen through the Doors' lives and music." It's not just us history majors who will dig this, is it? It sounds potentially fascinating to me, and incorporating a broader look at the country during the heyday of the band will hopefully set the movie apart from both Wolf's project and the worshipful docs that dominate the genre.
www.cinematical.com/2006/04/07/mmm-the-doors/World Entertainment News Network
Two Documentaries About The Doors Are In The Works
2006-04-08 11:00:00
Iconic rock act The Doors are returning to the big screen in two new documentaries. Top TV producer Dick Wolf will team up with Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore - the three surviving members of the band - for a new interview-based historical documentary. And surf icon-turned-filmmaker Stacy Peralta is developing "Six Nights, Six Records, Six Years," which he describes as a social history, set to the music of The Doors.
Wolf's project will include interviews with the family members of late rocker Jim Morrison, who have rarely appeared publicly to talk about the flamboyant frontman. Oscar-winner Bill Guttentag will direct Wolf's project.
www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/....he_doors_are_inThe Doors Celebrate Their Fortieth Anniversary With New Releases
BC Magazine
Written by Ryan Webster
Published May 22, 2006
Last but not least, Dick Wolf (Creator of Law & Order) is producing a feature length documentary-which will dig deep into the music/video archives of The Doors. This film will give fans the most intimate and detailed look into the true nature of Morrison and Co. With "lost" interviews with Jim Morrison and commentary by Jim's family, it is one film not to be missed by any Doors fan. It will hit theaters late '06/ early '07.
blogcritics.org/archives/2006/05/22/084325.phpEntertainment Weekly – May 23 2007
Untitled (Wolf/Doors Documentary
Is it true that Law & Order producer Dick Wolf is working on a Doors documentary?
MANZAREK: Yes. It's just in the bare-bones beginning stage.
Are you concerned that he's going to try and slip in some Law & Order sound effects on the soundtrack? 'DUM-DUM!'
MANZAREK: [Laughs] I doubt it, man. I think it'll work out fine. Dick will put on a different hat. On the other hand, it might not be bad: 'DUM-DUM!' Maybe there will be!
www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20040030,00.html
Then theres this:
'Law & Order' Goes to Court
28 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
NBC has sued producer Dick Wolf, responsible for the
Law & Order series, over a contractual dispute. The
network has asked an L.A. Superior Court judge to
decide just what Wolf, the executive producer of three
Law & Order shows that air on the network, should
receive if any of them is canceled.
Wolf Opens Doors Doors
by Dennis Michael
Law & Order creator Dick Wolf and Stacy Peralta are among those creating new projects to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of The Doors.
The Doors may be opening up for a new generation. Daily Variety reports the 40th anniversary of the founding of the seminal Los Angeles psychedelic band will be replete with new views through the "Doors of Perception."
One of those views will come from the production company Wolf Films, headed up by the emperor of the Law & Order empire, Dick Wolf. The full-length documentary will include previously unreleased footage of the band, unreleased interviews with Jim Morrison's parents and sister and, undoubtedly, other surprises. Oscar winner Gil Guttentag will direct, with the Doors Music Company co-producing.
Lords of Dogtown writer Stacy Peralta is creating a companion documentary about the band's cultural impact.
Rhino Records is also involved in the Doors retrospective. They plan an extensive box set release of all the Doors album releases with a choice of remixes, alternate takes and outtakes. The Doors will also have substantial presence on the iTunes site. An unreleased live concert recording "The Doors Live at the Matrix '67" is also on the release list.
Three new books by and about members of The Doors are on their way as well, including The Doors By the Doors, co written by Ben Fong Torres.
The Doors presented a darker musical view of the bright Summer of Love, but the longevity of the music proves that fans are willing to love them far more than just two times.
www.filmstew.com/Content/Article.asp?ContentID=13786&Pg=1Doors Celebrating 40th Anniversary With Projects
Melinda Newman, L.A.
As the Doors' surviving members gear up for the band's 40th anniversary -- with plans for a comprehensive boxed set, reissues, merchandise and an interactive Las Vegas attraction -- there is a possibility that their music may be used in commercials for the first time.
It almost happened in 1969, when drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger and keyboardist Ray Manzarek agreed to license "Light My Fire" to Buick to advertise its German-made Opel. Singer Jim Morrison, who was out of town for the meeting, vehemently disagreed, and the deal never came to pass. From that point, Densmore has opposed commercial usage, although Krieger and Manzarek have opened up to the possibility.
All deals, licensing and otherwise, must be approved by all partners in the Doors' assets: The three surviving members have a 75% share, and Morrison's families and his late girlfriend, Pamela Courson, share the other 25%.
Why the consideration now? "With older music no longer getting played on the radio and listenership fragmenting, how do we penetrate a whole new generation?" manager Jeff Jampol asks. "Selling out the Doors is not an option, on the other hand, certain commercials can be effective at reaching listeners."
That said, Jampol adds, "We will never license a Doors song for a mundane product like toothpaste or deodorant."
In addition to environmentally friendly products, Jampol says cutting-edge Internet or mobile platforms could be contenders. For example, Densmore says the SBC Internet commercial featuring Eric Clapton is "very cool."
Densmore hates that there has been industry confusion about the Doors' position on licensing and stresses that the group has allowed numerous movie placements ("Apocalypse Now," "Forrest Gump," "Jarhead") and TV usages ("Alias," "Entourage" and "The Simpsons").
"People think I veto everything," Densmore says, "[but] we are open and excited by an artistic film."
The Doors 40th anniversary will be marked with a 12-disc box set due this fall via Rhino. It will pair the band's first six studio albums -- all remastered with bonus tracks -- with six DVDs featuring 5.1 remixes of the studio albums and bonus material. There will also be a vinyl boxed set of the first six albums and January will see two-CD versions of the albums released individually.
Targeted to open in 2008, the Las Vegas show will be helmed by video director Jake Nava, who describes it as "a one-hour acid trip, but you don't come down." A traveling Doors memorabilia exhibit is being planned and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit will open in April 2007.
Other plans include a documentary film directed by Bill Guttentag, a summer 2007 multi-night TV special ("Six Nights, Six Years, Six Records") and a pair of coffee-table books ("The Doors by the Doors With Ben Fong-Torres" and "Jim Morrison: Treasures" by Rock Hall curator Jim Henke).
END.
Relighting the Doors' fire in film -- and maybe Vegas
Calendar Live - Los Angeles Times
by Mike Boehm and Geoff Boucher
This is the end? Not for the Doors, not even close. Jim Morrison died in Paris in summer 1971, but his music not only keeps playing, it's getting louder. The surviving members of the band — Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger — have been mired in assorted legal disputes in recent years, but now word is coming from their reunifying camp that they believe it's time to put their band's legacy (and, ahem, potential profitability) front and center.
Official news came last week that Dick Wolf, the force behind the ubiquitous "Law & Order" franchises, is producing a full-length documentary on the Doors for theatrical release — with all three surviving Doors on board as co-producers. Also on tap is a project from Stacy Peralta (a principal in the two "Dogtown" films) titled "Six Nights, Six Records, Six Years," which is described by Daily Variety as a "social history" documentary that plugs into the Doors jukebox.
Next year is the 40th anniversary of the band's first album, and those films lead a flurry of tie-in projects that include lavish new coffee-table books, albums of poetry and, of course, plenty of music releases that range from the rare to the repackaged.
And talk about strange days, there's even a plan to take the Doors to Vegas in 2008. Jeff Jampol of Doors Music Co. said the surviving members and Morrison's estate are negotiating a deal in the "tens of millions of dollars" to build a special theater of 800 to 1,200 seats at a Las Vegas casino and tailor-design a standing show. Although the music of Queen, Bob Dylan and Billy Joel has in recent years been repurposed as stage shows, Jambol said: "We don't feel a Broadway show or dance piece or circus piece fits what the Doors stand for."
So how would the Doors handle it? One of the ideas now is a midnight show with no live actors that borrows from both Disneyland's Haunted Mansion and those old Pink Floyd laser-light shows. The audience would enter the venue single-file through a dark hallway with piped-in Morrison poetry. Inside, the seats would be individually wired for sound and surrounded by an iMax screen, holograms, computer-generated special effects and all manner of weirdness. The story line and characters are a work in progress, but it would be fiction, not the band's story.
"We've got something very special in the works…. We're creating something, but we're not sure what it's called," Jampol said. "The overarching watch-phrase is we want to do something that speaks about the ethos and vibe and feeling and meaning of the Doors: dark, edgy, dangerous, questioning authority, otherworldly." If all goes well, the Doors might even keep their eyes on the road. "If it works in Vegas, I'd love to make it transportable."
www.calendarlive.com/music/cl-et-....y?coll=cl-musicJim Lives!
Written by Scott Collura
Friday, 07 April 2006
Now Playing Magazine
Yes, Jim Morrison is alive! No, I don’t mean he faked his death and he’s living in South America with Bruce Lee, the real Paul McCartney, and Hitler. What I mean is the legendary rock star’s memory lives on, and it’s about to get its fire lit again with two new documentaries about his classic band the Doors.
A feature-length doc about the band is being produced by Dick Wolf for theatrical release, according to Variety, while Stacy Peralta (Dogtown) is making a documentary, referred to as a “social history” by the trade paper, which will coincide with the Doors’ 40th anniversary. Wolf’s film will feature never-before-seen footage and interviews with the parents and sister of Jim, and the three surviving members of the band are co-producing – which is a much cooler thing for them to do than when they tried to continue as the Doors without Morrison.
Peralta’s film will be called Six Nights, Six Records, Six Years, and it will portray the history of that era from the perspective of the Doors’ lives and music. Both films are part of an orchestrated effort by the band and their manager to keep the Doors' music in the mainstream. A new box set of every studio album and concert disc made by the band will be released too, along with digital music downloads on iTunes, a coffee-table book, and a ton of other merchandise.
www.nowplayingmag.com/content/view/3503/2/The Doors to produce band biopic
April 6 2006
UK Guardian Film
The three surviving members of the Doors are to produce a social history documentary being put together by Dogtown And Z-Boys director Stacy Peralta. Peralta wants to release the film, called Six Nights, Six Records, Six Years, in time to mark the band's 40th anniversary in 2007. The story will chronicle the years of the late 1960s and early 1970s as seen through the life and music of the Doors. Meanwhile Hollywood producer Dick Wolf is readying a separate documentary about the band, which according to reports will include unseen footage as well as interviews with legendary frontman Jim Morrison's family.
film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1749139,00.html#article_continue
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