“CBGB” film cast filling out, scheduled to begin shooting June 25th in Savannah

I’ve already posted about Alan Rickman playing the late Hilly Kristal, the founder of the iconic nightclub in CBGB, and about Rupert Grint playing Cheetah Chrome from the punk band the Dead Boys.

We know a lot of the rest of the cast too, primarily thanks to The Hollywood Reporter.

Sana Katic of “Castle” will play Genya Ravan, a producer and singer for Goldie & the Gingerbreads.

Joel David Moore from Avatar will play Joey Ramone.

Malin Akerman has the enviable and unenviable task of trying to be a convincing Debbie Harry.

And more of the cast is set, according The Hollywood Reporter:

Julian Acosta (Thin Red Line) will play Johnny Ramone; Richard De Klerk (Repeaters) is CBGB soundman Taxi; Josh Zuckerman (Sex Drive) is Punk magazine creator John Holmstrom; Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy) is Mad Mountain; and Estelle Harris (Seinfeld) is Hilly’s mother, Bertha Kristal.

Estelle Harris??!!! George Costanza’s mother. I love it.

Press reports say that shooting will begin at Meddin Studios on June 25th.

The Meddin Studios Facebook page is hinting that there are some bigger names still to be added to the cast and that we should “anticipate the CBGB exterior facade to be downtown for a couple of weeks.”

Apparently some rockers who played the club in its heyday will have small parts and cameos.

Hilly Kristal’s daughter Lisa Kristal Burgman is a co-producer.

Randall Miller and Jody Savin co-wrote the screenplay, with Miller directing.

SCAD graduate Andre Danylevich is also listed as a producer. Andre was also associate producer for Savannah, and producer for a couple of great student shorts from 2010 — “En Route” and “Crowded Company”.

It’s hard not to be excited about this project, but I have no idea what the story actually covers.

Will the movie capture the raw energy of CBGB of the 1970s as it was?

Or in some watered down memorialization?

I’ll have a few thoughts about that in an upcoming post.