As a huge Buddy Holly fan, this makes me extremely happy! I discovered Buddy Holly when I was a kid in the 80’s. My mom loved Buddy and I saw the movie starring Gary Busey, “The Buddy Holly Story.” Of course it was some years later after it’s release that I saw it.
A new biopic about the legendary Buddy Holly is in the works, it will be titled “Clear Lake.” It will be directed by Bruce Beresford, the guy who directed the Oscar winning, Driving Miss Daisy and the suspense thriller, Double Jeopardy.
The biopic will begin with Holly as a teenager and focus largely on his 1958 Biggest Show of Stars Tour, which paired the singer with Little Anthony & the Imperials, also crossed the racial divide of the time. The biopic will also spotlight Holly’s ties to Little Richard, LaVern Baker and others. Additionally, the film will include parts of Buddy’s relationship with his now widow, Maria Elena Holly. It also focuses on his decision to join the 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour. It was during that tour that Holly and tourmates Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson (aka, the Big Bopper) died in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959, near Clear Lake, Iowa.
Buddy’s family will have a hand in filming and fact checking…Maria Elena Holly is an associate producer on Clear Lake, which was developed with Holly’s estate.
Casting for Clear Lake has begun and has a target production start date of this fall. The movie’s budget is $15-20 million.
