Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis’ life story is moving closer toward a screen adaptation, with Universal having optioned the rights to the singer’s bestselling memoir, Scar Tissue.
Kiedis himself has been set as a producer on the project along with Brian Grazer, representing Imagine Entertainment, and Guy Oseary, who took over management duties for the Chili Peppers in 2021.
Kiedis was represented in the deal by CAA, Oseary, and Eric Greenspan at Myman Greenspan Fineman Fox Rosenberg & Light LLP. Universal’s announcement reports that Jay Polidoro, the studio’s executive VP pf production development, will oversee the project.
According to an advance press release, the studio is promising an adaptation of Scar Tissue that will be “a shockingly candid portrait of an artist, addict, and ringleader” and contains “a deeply unconventional father and son story set against a substance-fueled ’70s and ’80s L.A. punk scene. This story examines, without judgment, how all of his experiences shaped the music that was eventually embraced by millions.”
Released in 2004, Scar Tissue, written by Kiedis with Larry Sloman, went to No. 1 on the New York Times’ bestseller list.
The singer reflected on the content of Scar Tissue in an interview with The Sun in 2016. He said “I did regret the book for a while as there was some pain caused. But then, I started seeing the long term positive reverberating. People were reading it in hospitals, in prisons and schools and it was having a positive effect.
“I realized that the whole point of writing that book wasn’t for me, but to show that somebody can go all the way down and come all the way back and have a productive, successful happy interesting life. And so whatever shame, pain or difficulty or discomfort I went through, then it was worth it because I get so many people coming up to me saying their kids had read it and got their act together because of it.”
Elsewhere in Red Hot Chili Peppers news, the band – along with Post Malone and Maggie Rogers – were recently confirmed among the big names set to perform at the 2024 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival: the internationally-acclaimed camping festival, taking place June 13-16, 2024 on the Bonnaroo Farm, located just 60 miles southeast of Nashville in Manchester, TN.