John DeLorean designed one barmy car, inspired the creation of a time machine and then went bust and lost his company, being accused of drug trafficking in an attempt to save it. It's an interesting story, of course, but we're still surprised that it has inspired not one, not two but three biopics currently in production.
Yes, Time Inc. Studios and XYZ are teaming up to bring a DeLorean biopic to the screen, based on a plethora of Time and Fortune magazine articles, Hillel Levin's DeLorean book "Grand Delusions" and an unpublished autobiographical memoir by DeLorean himself. They also boast the involvement of DeLorean's son (and executor) Zachary, and DeLorean's business partner Fred Dellis.
Meanwhile, Brett Ratner's planning to direct a version of the story from a James Toback script with Robert Evans producing, and David Permut and Steven Lee Jones are producing another, based on DeLorean's attorney's life story.
We doubt that there's a big enough audience for all three of these to reach the screen, and with very little talent yet attached it's hard to say how any of them might turn out. This latest one certainly seems to have the edge in terms of material to work from, but will Ratner's heft get the job done instead? And do you really care about this "modern Citizen Kane" story, or would you rather just watch Back To The Future again?