Simon Cowell has now decided he wants to make film of his TV programmes American Idol and X-Factor. Star Struck is the working title, and the idea is that ten contestants will be followed all the way to the top.
Cowell explains that the story will be told through the eyes of the contestants. “We want it to be the musical version of Rocky – an underdog story, a feel-good film.”
The casting for the lead roles will be done similar to how they do it for his reality shows on TV, through open call auditions in different cities. If you’re thinking of auditioning for X-factor you may end up at a casting for the film. Cowell is putting himself as a judge in the auditions for the film. But if he will be choosing the unknown lead characters on his own it could take years for him to find ten people meeting his criteria. Here’s hoping.
And it doesn’t stop there, the opening scene of Star Struck will show clips from the auditions, which normally are the best and funniest part of the TV programme. The similarities between film and TV show are so many we don’t quite understand the point of it. Should you be one of those looking forward to this, release is planned for summer 2008.