Hollywood interest has grown in a potential David Bowie biopic after Suzi Ronson, the stylist credited with helping create the singer's Ziggy Stardust look, said her memoir has been optioned with hopes it will be turned into a major motion picture.
Ronson, who is married to guitarist Mick Ronson, said her book Me And Mr Jones: My Life With David Bowie And The Spiders From Mars was "auctioned to be made into a major motion picture" but added the project "hasn't been bought" yet. She told The Sun the memoir — which recounts her time on the Ziggy Stardust era and episodes from Bowie's private life — could spark a bidding war among studios.
Ronson, a hairstylist who worked closely with Bowie and the Spiders From Mars, said the film would cover the creation of the Ziggy Stardust persona and a one-night encounter she had with Bowie while he was still married to his first wife, Angie. "David called me and said: 'Why don't you come over and do my hair?'" Ronson told The Sun. She described Bowie's bedroom as "pink with a gold ceiling," and said "Everybody thought he was so gay. I was curious about him. I think Angie set me up."
Representatives for Bowie's estate did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The memoir's reported auctioning reflects early-stage interest rather than a completed film deal; optioning does not guarantee a movie will be made.
The renewed attention on Bowie's private and creative life coincides with the public reveal of an unfinished theatrical project discovered in the musician's locked study after his death in 2016. Archivists said only Bowie and his personal assistant had keys to the study, and the notes for a work described by Bowie as an "18th Century musical" had not been seen by his closest collaborators. The project, titled The Spectator in Bowie's notes, focuses on art and satire in 18th-century London and characters including the thief Jack Sheppard.
The Spectator and thousands of other items from Bowie's archive have been donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum and will be displayed at the new David Bowie Centre opening at the V&A East Storehouse in Hackney Wick on Sept. 13. The collection is said to contain more than 90,000 items, including musical instruments, notebooks, handwritten lyrics for songs such as "Fame," "Heroes," and "Ashes to Ashes," and costumes from the Ziggy Stardust period. The archive also reportedly documents Bowie's use of the "cut up" writing method he encountered through the writer William Burroughs.
Bowie had expressed an interest in theatre throughout his life. In a 2002 interview with BBC Radio 4's John Wilson, he said writing for the stage had been an early ambition and that he had intended to reach a wide audience. The newly surfaced theatrical notes have been described by curators as evidence of that long-standing aspiration.
Those involved in developing Ronson's memoir for screen have not announced creative teams, directors or casting. If a studio purchase is completed, any film based on Ronson's account would join a growing number of screen projects seeking to dramatize the private and professional lives of major music figures, a trend that has drawn commercial interest as well as scrutiny over how archival material and personal recollections are adapted for cinema.
The V&A exhibition will be the first major public presentation of several items from Bowie's archive, offering scholars and fans an opportunity to examine both his widely known works and lesser-known creative endeavors. The museum has said the centre will present items to reflect Bowie's multifaceted career as a musician, performer and writer.