After a lengthy bidding battle, Netflix are near to closing a deal for a forthcoming KISS biopic, set to be called Shout It Out Loud.
According to Deadline, the film looks to be produced in close collaboration with bandleaders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. It will be driven by stories of the pair’s formative years as misfit kids in the New York borough of Queens, and how their unlikely friendship lead to the formation of KISS, alongside Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
One such tale of reminiscence is Simmons as a 12-year-old Hasidic Orthodox Jew who discovered “a new faith” as he left the yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution.
“I remember walking out onto the street, seeing this Spanish girl jumping rope across the street, and staring at her long black hair slapping against this great butt,” he once said. “It occurred to me this was better than religion. How could I get near that?”
Similarly, Stanley – considered largely as a sex-symbol at the peak of the band’s success – recalls the moment of his reckoning, saying, “I was deaf in one ear and had a slight deformity that made me look different.
“I was this short, fat kid, and music became my salvation, a place to hide and dream. And when I played music, there were always girls around.”
According to Deadline, the biopic that will capture the lives and legacy of the New York City legends will be directed by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), with a script written by Ole Sanders (Halftime Hero).
Neither band nor crew have passed any further comment on details of the production.