Jeff Buckley Biopic Finds Lead In 'Spider-Man' Actor Reeve Carney

Carney lands role in one of three films reportedly being made about the late singer's life.
By Jocelyn Vena

Reeve Carney
Photo: WireImage

Penn Badgley may have landed the Jeff Buckley role in "Greetings From Tim Buckley," but "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" star Reeve Carney has landed the role in yet another film based on the musician's life.

Carney is set to star in a still-untitled film about the "Last Goodbye" singer. It's set to begin production this November and is being helmed by "Welcome to the Rileys" director Jake Scott, who noted that Carney has "the perfect combination of musical prodigy, impish charm, innate intelligence and sensitivity to play Jeff." Carney will do all his own singing.

Buckley's mom, Mary Guibert, will also be involved in production, Deadline.com reports. The film's production has been granted rights to use Buckley's music and archives, and they have also been given rights by Sony to use "Hallelujah," the Leonard Cohen song that Buckley famously covered. "The Rocker" scribe, Ryan Jaffe, will man the script based on the book "Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley" by David Browne.

For some time, "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson had been attached to one of the Buckley roles, but now that both films have found their leads, it seems unlikely that the Hollywood star will get to show off his singing chops in an adaptation of the singer's life. However, Deadline.com notes that a third Buckley biopic is in the works. That one is based on the book "A Pure Drop: The Life of Jeff Buckley" and is being directed by Brendan Fletcher.

A California native, Buckley rose to fame in the 1990s in New York City and recorded only one studio album, Grace, before his untimely death. He was the son of singer/songwriter Tim Buckley. During his lifetime, his moody, romantic tracks paired with his signature voice established him as one of the go-to singer/songwriters of his generation. His trademark songs include "Last Goodbye" and "Hallelujah." He was just 30 years old when he drowned in a river in 1997.

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