A biopic of controversial queer Culture Club star Boy George is coming and the internet has thoughts
Boy George is getting a biopic about his rise to fame in Culture Club. (Getty)
A new biopic about Culture Club singer and queer British music star Boy George, who rose to fame in the ’80s, is in the works – and the internet has many thoughts.
The film, which is still in the early stages of development, will be executively produced by Boy George himself, alongside his manager Paul Kemsley and Oscar-winning Crash producer Cathy Schulman.
How To Get Away With Murder and Looking writer J.C. Lee will write the film’s script.
According to Deadline, the new biopic will focus largely on Boy George’s rise to fame as part of ‘80s pop band Culture Club, who were catapulted into the spotlight in 1982 with number one hit “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”.
The following year saw the ’80s band release their most recognisable song to date, “Karma Chameleon”, which also hit number one on the charts in the UK, America, Canada, and Australia, among other countries.
Boy George began releasing solo material in 1987, scoring one UK chart-topper in single “Everything I Own”.
Deadline also reports that the biopic will focus on material covered in the star’s autobiographies Take It Like A Man, Straight and Karma, released in 1995, 2005, and 2023 respectively.
The announcement has elicited a variety of reactions online, both from Boy George fans and detractors, and biopic lovers and haters.
Some have questioned whether the film will explore the controversies and legal troubles that have plagued the Grammy-winning musician’s career since his star ascension.
In 2009, the “Victims” performer was sentenced to 15 months in prison for assaulting and falsely imprisoning Norwegian model and escort Audun Carlsen.
Though he pleaded not guilty, Boy George – real name George Alan O’Dowd – was found guilty of handcuffing Carlsen to a radiator and beating him with a metal chain.
At the time of his conviction for the 2007 attack, the singer claimed to have been under the influence of cocaine and later said that he was suffering from a “psychotic episode” during the incident.
Though he was sentenced to 15 months, he was released after serving four due to good behaviour while in prison. He had to abide by a curfew and wear an ankle monitor for the remainder of the 15 months.
Speaking on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories in 2017, he apologised for “stopping [Carlsen] from leaving my apartment”, and said he was “ashamed” of what he did.
Boy George was previously arrested in New York in 2005 for possession of cocaine and falsely reporting a burglary. After denying the drugs were his own, the cocaine possession charge was dropped. He was found guilty of the latter charge and sentenced to five days of community service in Manhattan.
Just last year, the Ivor Novello award-winner and his former Culture Club band members Roy Hay and Mikey Craig were forced to pay former band drummer Jon Moss £1.75m as part of a settlement over Moss’s loss of tour earnings after he was “expelled” from the band in 2018.
The star’s most recent biography Karma does dedicate a section to his stay in prison, as well as addressing his legal battle with Moss, so there is potential for those elements to feature in the biopic.
However, on social media, film fans and Boy George lovers are sounding off.
“Give me a f**king break! No more biopics, please. Did these people run out of ideas,” questioned one tired movie-goer on X/Twitter.
“Are they gonna talk about that time Boy George chained up a man and beat him with a chain, and went to prison for like 4 months,” a second pondered.
“I wonder which heterosexual actor they will get to play him,” speculated a third.
Great Expectations actor Douglas Booth rose to prominence playing Boy George in the 2010 TV biopic, Worried About the Boy.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
