Grateful Dead topper Jerry Garcia biopic in development

Those of you that have been anxiously following the Elton John signed DVD contest, will probably by interested in this. Veteran producers Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa and Eric Eisner have signed on to produce a biopic about Grateful Dead topper Jerry Garcia that will take a revealing look at his roots. This according to a story on The Hollywood Reporter. The band has been the subject of number of documentaries, however the story of Garcia’s life has never been told on the big screen.

The as-yet-untitled film will focus primarily on Garcia’s early life in the Bay Area before he joined the band that would eventually become the Grateful Dead, including his tour of duty in the military and his first encounters with the Northern California music scene, including future Dead bassist Phil Lesh.

The project will follow Robert Greenfield’s book Dark Star, with music rights currently being negotiated.

Berger and Yerxa previously collaborated on the indie hits Election and Little Miss Sunshine, while Eisner produced Sundance hit Hamlet 2 with Berger and Yerxa.