The late Michael Hutchence will be the subject of a biopic tentatively titled "Slide Away". The film has been in the works for years but it's now official, and the story line hints that it will feature Hutchence's ghost recalling his wild life as an 80s rock star to daughter Tigerlily. Rumor has it that the very busy Johnny Depp tops the most wanted list of actors to portray the troubled lead singer of INXS, who may or may not have committed suicide in 1997.
Longtime Inxs videomaker Nick Egan says that the ghost speaking angle was just "Hollywood speak" to grab the attention of European distributors at the Cannes Film Festival. "Anybody who is familiar with my work would never use the word 'cheesy' as a description of what I do," Egan writes on a Hutchence official fan site. "But I have always made it very clear that I wanted to avoid the traditional biopic, it's been done ad nausea and I'm trying to raise the bar."
Publicist for Hutchence's band says INXS will not be involved: "The band has never been involved in any of these films and I really don't think this one will be any different."
Hutchence was dating Bob Geldof's wife and accidentally hanged himself while performing a sex act in a room at the Sydney, Australia, Ritz-Carlton hotel in November, 1997.
