Getting a biopic on legendary female singers and feminist icons Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon off the ground is tough business. It's a tough sell, as despite their Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame credentials, they aren't as immediately recognizable or perceived to have lived quite the turbulent lives of Ray Charles or Johnny Cash. The best you can probably hope for is a moderate critical and box office success like The Runaways, which was smart enough to have Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett.
Sony Pictures is taking a similar path with their adaptation of Girls Like Us, which follows the careers of King, Mitchell, and Simon as they came of age in the 1960s folk music scene to become significant forces not only in music but to the women's movement as a whole. Variety reports that Taylor Swift is currently attached to play Joni Mitchell, while Alison Pill(Pieces of April) is in line to play King. There aren't any offers on the table yet, but that may change soon as filming is set tentatively set for later this year. Katie Jacobs, a producer on House and a television director, will make her feature film debut behind the camera. The great John Sayles(Matewan) wrote the script.
It's hard to deny that Swift and Mitchell are almost polar opposite in their style of music and public persona, but Swift is a tougher, more competent artist than I think people give her credit for being. But can she act? We know she can lay down a tune and sing her heart out, but this would be the most complex role of her young acting career.
