The Libertines drummer Gary Powell thinks a biopic on the band would be fascinating to fans and he would want Denzel Washington to play him.
The 55-year-old musician and his bandmates – Pete Doherty, Carl Barat and John Hassall – have been one of the most influential and chaotic British indie bands since they released their debut LP ‘Up the Bracket’ in 2002.
The band’s story is intertwined with Pete’s tumultuous life which has seen him date supermodel Kate Moss, be imprisoned for burgling bandmate Carl Barat’s home and long struggle to beat his substance abuse issues.
Gary think a Libertines biopic would be as interesting as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ about Queen or ‘Rocket Man’ which tells the life story of Sir Elton John, and the drummer has earmarked two-time Academy Award winner Denzel, 70, to portray him.
In an interview with Contact Music at the launch of Live Odyssey in Camden Market, London, he said: “People would be interested, especially in the love affair between Pete and Carl.
“But also in the whole dynamic between the four of us, I don’t t think there are many bands out there where people do actually concentrate on the band as an entirety.
“But don’t ask me to remember what happened!
“It might be cringe, it might be like, ‘What did I do? Did I really set fire to a hotel? No I didn’t do that, oh, yes I did.
“I know Denzel Washington would be up there to play me.”
The Libertines singer Pete admitted back in 2023 that the four members had discussed the possibility of a biopic on the band
Speaking to NME, he said: “We’ve talked about it, but then we always have a row about who’s playing who!”
“We even tried to sit down and write some screenplays for it, but it always turns into some farcical comedy.
“There was a musical made in Korea called ‘The Likely Lads’. They said it was going to run and run, but it closed after two nights.
“Now with all this AI, you can just play yourself. We’d be playing with ourselves, as usual.”
The Libertines have been immortalised at Live Odyssey – a new experience exploring six decades of British music, from Beatlemania to the grime revolution – as holograms with the virtual band performing a string of hits, including ‘Don’t Look Back Into the Sun’.