Machine Gun Kelly to Play Tommy Lee in Netflix’s Motley Crue Biopic ‘The Dirt’

Colson Baker, known by his stage name Machine Gun Kelly, has been tapped to play Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee in Netflix’s adaptation of the band’s biography “The Dirt.”

Jeff Tremaine, who helmed the “Jackass” movies, is directing the film from a script by Rich Wilkes and Tom Kapinos. Julie Yorn, Erik Olsen, and Allen Kovac are producing, while Chris Nilsson, Steve Kline, and Rick Yorn are exec producing. Members of Motley Crue are co-producing.

Based on the 2001 autobiography “The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band,” the movie follows the group’s rise during the ’80s “hair band” rock scene on the Sunset Strip and pulls no punches as it dives into the band’s highs and lows along the way. Motley Crue played its final concert on New Year’s Eve in 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The band was formed in L.A. and released its first album, “Too Fast for Love,” in 1981. Motley Crue combined hard rock, heavy metal, and glam rock, going on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide.

This is the closest the film has come to moving toward production after years of jumping from studio to studio. It landed at Paramount Pictures more than a decade ago. Larry Charles was initially attached to direct “The Dirt” for Paramount and MTV Films in 2006. Focus then came on in 2015 while the band was on its final tour. At that point, Tremaine and the current producers were on board.

Baker is repped by ICM Partners, EST 19XX, and Felker, Toczek, and Levine.

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