It’s official: Jeremy Allen White is your new Bruce Springsteen. Rumors that The Bear would take on The Boss started circulating last week, but Deadline reports that the deal is officially done. While The E Street Band embarks on its 50th year of touring, White will embark on a journey of a different kind for writer-director Scott Cooper’s Deliver Me From Nowhere.
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Based on Warren Zanes’ book of the same name, Deliver Me From Nowhere follows Springsteen through the crafting of his critically acclaimed 1982 album, Nebraska. The record was famously made up of 4-track demos which the artist originally intended to re-record with The E Street Band before deciding to put it out as a solo project. Nebraska marked a darker, moodier period of Springsteen’s work, as represented on the track “Atlantic City,” widely regarded one of the songwriter’s best tracks. The film will follow Springsteen as he makes the album while “Grappling with personal demons and trying to wrap his arms around becoming a global superstar,” per Deadline.
The industry-specific breaking news here is that the Deliver Me To Nowhere has landed at 20th Century Studios rather than A24, which was originally circling the project. Deadline reports that it was a “wild weekend of a bidding battle” between the studios. Springsteen and his longtime manager Jon Landau are reportedly “actively involved” with the film, which in addition to Nebraska will include music from The River (the album prior to Nebraska) and Born In The U.S.A. (which was recorded concurrently with Nebraska).
Jeremy Allen White has enjoyed a long reign as Twitter’s White Boy Of The Month, but he’s a genuinely good fit for the role. Beyond being a talented actor, he and Springsteen share a similar stature, and White’s got the sad-eyed disheveled look of a tortured rockstar poet. It’s also a smart career move for the actor to capitalize on The Bear’s smash success; just five years ago, Rami Malek went from an Emmy for Mr. Robot to an Oscar for his own rock biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. It’s a tried and true method for Hollywood legitimacy, and with Springsteen’s seal of approval, it may just be a hit in the making.