Jonas Åkerlund, the director behind Lords of Chaos and Netflix’s Clark, will direct an upcoming biopic about infamous punk rocker GG Allin. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be titled GG Allin: Live. Fast. Die., and will dive into Allin’s tumultuous life, including an undiagnosed mental illness and struggles with drugs and alcohol. Don Murphy and Susan Monford will serve as producers and have acquired the late musician’s life and music rights.
In a statement, Åkerlund discussed the upcoming project:
The film’s script is written by Richard Schenkman, who dedicated a year to in-depth research that included interviews with those closest to Allin, including bandmates, his now deceased mother, and brother Merle Allin:
“This is exactly the type of real and raw story I am looking for and this film explores the ugly belly of the beast and how Kevin Allin came to be GG. Punk was already a genre about pushing limits, expanding on musical genres and the definition of artistic expression. At a time when punk was thought to be dead, sold out or too raw to survive, GG came into the scene bleeding, pissing, and sinking like no punk before. Live. Fast. Die. is about a sick person who should have asked for help. GG’s strong persona was a gift, but this borderline personality disorder was not treated, and killed him.”
Allin became known for his on-stage antics that disgusted and outraged critics, including self-mutilation and assault of concert attendees. At times, Allin’s actions while performing led to arrests. While Allin rarely appealed to critics and mainstream music lovers, he gained a cult following in the underground punk scene. Unfortunately, the troubled musician ultimately succumbed to his substance, and in 1993, at only 36, Allin died from an accidental heroin overdose.
“I (also) read hundreds of articles about him, arrest and trial transcripts, even his unpublished memoir. I watched hours of videos and endured track after track of his assaultive music. I wanted everything in this movie to be accurate and true. And it is,” Schenkman says.
Jonas Åkerlund’s Expansive Portfolio
Åkerlund is a successful music director with a wide range of clients, including Ozzy Osbourne, Lady Gaga, and Christina Aguilera. His work in music has earned him multiple accolades, including a 1998 Grammy for Madonna’s Ray of Light video, the 2008 Best Long Form Music Video Grammy for directing Madonna’s The Confessions Tour DVD, and in 2014, the Best Music Film Grammy for Paul McCartney’s Live Kisses concert film.
Besides music documentaries, Åkerlund has worked on a number of feature films, including Lords of Chaos and Polar. He is most known for his work on 2019’s Lords of Chaos, a fictionalized horror film about crimes surrounding the Norwegian black metal scene in the 1990s. The film starred Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, Sky Ferreira, Jack Kilmer, and Valter Skarsgard and earned positive reviews.
He most recently directed Clark, a Netflix series starring Bill Skarsgård about another controversial figure: Clark Oloffson. Oloffson is a Swedish career criminal best known for a 1973 Norrmalmstorg robbery where he and an accomplice held hostages at a bank for five days. The victims’ refusal to cooperate with authorities and testify against the men led to the creation of the phrase “Stockholm syndrome.”
