Actor Aaron Eckhart dedicated six months learning to sing and play drums and piano to portray the Beach Boy's Dennis Wilson in the film The Drummer. Unfortunately, he had to go to Australia to make the film I, Frankenstein before working on the Wilson film and that shoot proved so exhausting that he had to postpone any further roles.
It's that delay that appears to have sent The Drummer to the dead picture pile. Wilson's children, Carl and Jennifer, had agreed to the making of the film but were uncomfortable with the script which they felt emphasized their father's alcohol and drug use. The additional time from the delay appears to have given them time to change their mind as they have issued a statement saying "The Dennis Wilson Trust can confirm that there is no plan for proceeding with the Drummer project."
Wilson's writing partner, Gregg Jakobson, is not happy with the decision, telling The Hollywood Reporter "The kids, they get bad counseling. It’s the estate ... they don’t know anything about the entertainment business. They hardly even really ever knew their dad."
In addition, J2 Media, the signed distributor for the film, has said that they no longer represent the production and Unclaimed Freight Productions, who had staffed up for making the film, used the crew to make CBGB and have now reassigned them to Midnight Rider: The Gregg Allman Story.
Others that had been signed for the film, which was expected to start shooting in June of 2012, were Vera Farmiga as Christine McVie, Chloe Grace Moretz as Wilson's daughter and Rupert Grint as close friend Stan Shapiro.
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