Tag Archives: James Keach

Selena Gomez Starring as Linda Ronstadt in Biopic Based on the Singer’s “Simple Dreams” Memoir

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Selena Gomez is heading to the Blue Bayou…

The 31-year-old Mexican American actress/singer will portray Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic based on the superstar singer’s 2013 memoir Simple Dreams.

Selena GomezGomez, who stars in and executive produces Hulu’s The Only Murders In The Building, gave credence to the months-old internet rumors about the project by posting a photo of the memoir as an Instagram Story. Rolling Stone later confirmed the casting.

In pre-production, the film is being co-produced by James Keach and Ronstadt’s longtime manager John Boylan.

Additional casting and release date have not been announced.

An unconfirmed report of Gomez’s involvement in the biopic surfaced last July, but the IG Story today moved the possibility into the definite.

Keach directed the 2020 film Linda and the Mockingbirds, a documentary chronicling a road trip undertaken by Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and a group of younger musicians to the Mexican town of Banámichi in the state of Sonora, the birthplace of Ronstadt’s grandfather.

Linda Ronstadt Heart Like a WheelLike Gomez, who has had a successful music and acting career, Ronstadt is of Mexican descent. Ronstadt wrote at length about her heritage in the 2013 memoir. The singer returned to the subject in the 2022 book Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands.

Despite her 2012 retirement following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease – the diagnosis was revised seven years later to progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative disease similar to Parkinson’s that has left Ronstadt unable to sing – Ronstadt and her music have returned to the spotlight in recent months. Last year her 1970 recording of “Long Long Time” was featured prominently in an episode of The Last of Us, and trailers for Ryan Murphy’s upcoming FX series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans make heavy use of Ronstadt’s smash 1974 hit “You’re No Good.”

The 2019 documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, offered an in-depth retrospective of her life and career, featuring on-screen appearances by and interviews with Ronstadt and her many musical friends and colleagues, including Browne, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, Kevin Kline, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt and J.D. Souther.

If even a fraction of the many rockers and celebrities who’ve crossed paths with Ronstadt over the years make it into the biopic as characters, Hollywood will be very busy in coming months with actors vying for plum roles.

Shout! Studios Acquires Global Rights to “Linda and the Mockingbirds” Documentary About Linda Ronstadt’s Impactful Journey to Mexico

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Linda Ronstadt’s special cultural journey is going global…

Linda and the Mockingbirds, a documentary about the 74-year-old Grammy-winning singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member’s journey to Mexico to explore her family history and musical roots south of the border, has been picked up for worldwide rights by Shout! Studios, the distribution and production division of the Shout! Factory home video company.

Linda Ronstadt

The film was originally scheduled to premiere at the Telluride Film Festival over Labor Day weekend.

Shout! Plans to release the documentary later this year via various distribution platforms.

In a follow-up to last year’s highly acclaimed Ronstadt documentary The Sound of My Voice, Linda and the Mockingbirds narrows in on a road trip taken by Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and a group of younger musicians to the Mexican town of Banámichi in the state of Sonora, the birthplace of Ronstadt’s beloved grandfather.

The film is said to deal with border politics, racism and other personal or hot-button topics affecting Ronstadt’s and Browne’s companions on the trip: the instructors and students of Los Cenzontles, a school and studio based in San Pablo, California dedicated to the promotion of Mexican roots music.

Linda and The Mockingbirds

The documentary was directed and produced by actor-turned-filmmaker James Keach, who also produced Sound of My Voice.

“It has been an honor to create a second documentary with Linda Ronstadt, whom I love and admire,” Keach said in a statement. “Crossing the border on this musical journey to Mexico with Linda, Jackson Browne and the young musicians of Los Cenzontles opened the minds and hearts of all of us working on the film. I hope it will open the minds and hearts of everyone who sees it.”

It was Ronstadt’s request that Keach embark on making a second film that would focus on her relationship with the Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy.

Ronstadt has been known for her associations with Mexican music ever since she interrupted her pop career in 1987 to release Canciones De Mi Padre, a labor of love that unexpectedly became a commercial success and was certified double-platinum.

“The film beautifully blends multiple stories, focusing on Linda Ronstadt’s Mexican-American roots, celebrating the music and culture of Mexico and offering a passionate and personal story about immigration,” said Shout!’s Jeffrey Peisch.

Documentary on Augie Nieto to Open in LA and New York in November

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Augie Nieto’s inspirational story is headed to the big screen…

Following up his Oscar nominated documentary chronicling the late Glen Campbell’s fight against Alzheimers Disease, director James Keach tackles the inspirational story of the Latino fitness guru who is often called “the Steve Jobs of the fitness industry.”

Augie Nieto

Nieto is the founder and retired chief executive of Life Fitness, as well as the current chairman of the ALS Therapy Development Institute.

At age 47, Nieto was diagnosed with ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gerhig’s Disease.

He’s noted for fighting against ALS by creating “Augie’s Quest“, which has raised over $45 million in funds for research into the disease.

The film Keach made is being hailed as a love story between Nieto and his wife Lynne, who are active in the battle against the devastating condition that has taken so many lives.

The remarkable documentary shows it doesn’t have to be a death sentence, especially when you have the fighting spirit of Augie and Lynne involved.

The film will open on November 3 in Los Angeles and November 17 in New York in an Oscar qualifying run.