Fun Rumor: Jonah Hill to Play Rick Rubin in Def Jam Biopic?
In case you haven’t heard: Straight Outta Compton, Universal’s recent biopic about N.W.A., is a massive hit. Made for just $28 million dollars (which is not that much money in movie terms), it has so far grossed over $180 million dollars worldwide, and is still going. Normally, this kind of success would immediately spawn sequels and spin-offs and shared universes and blah blah blah, but Compton pretty well covers N.W.A.’s entire career, so there isn’t really a proper sequel to be made. What’s a poor film division of a multinational mega-conglomerate to do?
The solution, it seems, may be to make a similarly-themed movie that isn’t actually a sequel. Reports Deadline:
“Universal is considering another high profile deep dive into hip hop history, this time the story of Def Jam Recordings and its co-founderRussell Simmons. We’re also hearing Michael B. Jordan and Jonah Hill mentioned as possibles for Simmons and Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin respectively, though there are no deals in place at this time.”
The basis for the film would be Simmons’ 2002 book with Nelson George, Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money, + God.
Now, this is all in the very preliminary stages, and could very well not happen. But how weird/hilarious would it be to see Jonah Hill as Rick Rubin? It’s not even good casting, really (Rubin is known for his Zen-like nature, Hill is known for playing characters that are extremely, um, energetic), and I imagine the only reason Hill’s name got thrown into the mix is because some studio executive thought to cast one chubby white guy to play another chubby white guy. But it would still be amusing to watch a scene where Hill listens to “Angel of Death” in the studio, strokes his bear, tells Kerry King to change one of the guitar solos and then leaves.
The real question now, of course, is: who should play Slayer? Make your suggestions in the comments section below. Keep in mind this would be 1986 Slayer, so don’t just shout out the name of every bald guy in Hollywood for Kerry King, okay?
