'American Idol'-Based Movie in the Works: "The Musical Version of 'Rocky'"

American Idol's first attempt to cash in at the box office didn't go so well, to put it mildly. From Justin to Kelly, 2003's painful teenage-romance flick starring season-one finalists Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson, was a rush-job that tanked its first week out and was then rushed to DVD. Simon Cowell was not involved in this nightmare, and is therefore still optimistic that he can coax American Idol's massive audience from their couches to theaters with Star Struck, a new film he's been planning for years.

The movie's plot is a hybrid of a fictionalized American Idol-like show and Alan Parker's 1980s' film Fame. Star Struck follows the lives of ten celebrity-hungry contestants as they pursue their fifteen minutes. "The story is told through the eyes of those ten contestants," Cowell explained. "We want it to be the musical version of Rocky -- an underdog story, a feel-good film. Fame was all about young people wanting to be famous, and in order to do that, they enrolled in a drama school; everyone who wants to be famous today signs up for American Idol."

To further the life-imitating-art-imitating-reality narrative, Star Struck will be cast via nationally held auditions and the film will open with Cowell presiding over potential candidates, just like those nauseatingly compelling first weeks of Idol. Cowell is aiming for a summer 2008 release date.

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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