The Daily Swarm

Last fall, the Internet was buzzing with talk of Kirsten Dunst playing Debbie Harry, and Elijah Wood playing Iggy Pop. Directors were attached, the subjects gave their blessings, and a year later… nothing.

Rumors about an Ang Lee-directed Dusty Springfield project, starring Charlize Theron and, even more titillatingly, supermodel Kate Moss as her lover, were quickly doused by Lee. Oddly, no mention was made of the two Dusty Springfield films that actually are in development, one starring Kristin Chenoweth and the other a Nicole Kidman vehicle penned by “Hours” scribe Michael Cunningham.

Kidman and Cunningham are a proven team, but even when all the pieces seem to be in place—as with the Janis Joplin project at one time linked to Zooey Deschanel and rock chick director Penelope Spheeris—hot properties can suddenly find themselves indefinitely on the back burner.

Why is it that these stories, so good on paper, often fizzle out before they’re immortalized on film? The most logical reason would seem to be the costs of licensing the music, but as Doug Mark, principal of Mark Music and Media Law, points out, even at $100,000 per song for the publishing and recording rights, these fees aren’t prohibitive in the scheme of Hollywood financing.