Jonah Hill to play Jerry Garcia in Martin Scorsese’s Grateful Dead biopic for Apple

Acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese is onboard to direct and produce a new untitled biopic on iconic rock band Grateful Dead with actor Jonah Hill joining the team to play group’s frontman Jerry Garcia.

The Apple TV Plus project will mark Scorsese and Hill’s first collaboration since The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). The two had been looking for something to work on together ever since, and the opportunity to play a rock legend like Garcia was too good for Hill to pass up. The director-actor duo will also serve as producers on the film.

American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski are coming together again to pen the script for the biopic. It is not clear what period of the band's history the film will dramatize.     

Formed in San Francisco's Bay area in 1965 amid the rise of the psychedelic counterculture, the Grateful Dead became hugely popular soon after releasing their debut album in 1967. Along with Garcia, founding members include Bob Weir, Ron McKernan, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann. Kreutzmann, Weir, Mickey Hart, and Phil Lesh will executive produce the upcoming biopic along with their late bandmate’s daughter Trixie Garcia, Eric Eisner and Bernie Cahill. 

The “jam band” stayed on top for decades until Garcia’s death in 1995 brought an end to the group.   This would be Socrsese's second project on the band after 2017's Grateful Dead documentary Long Strange Trip.        

The film is part of Scorsese and his production banner Sikelia Productions first-look deal with Apple.

Stay tuned for more updates!