<\/p>\n
A Replacements biopic is in the works.<\/p>\n
Variety broke the news<\/a> Wednesday that \u201cStranger Things\u201d star Finn Wolfhard is working on a script about the cult Minneapolis band with his father, Eric Wolfhard, and producer Rich Peete based on Bob Mehr\u2019s best-selling biography \u201cTrouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements.\u201d<\/p>\n Mehr, who is the music critic for the Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis, Tenn., confirmed the news on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the nearly ten years since \u2018Trouble Boys\u2019 was published, I\u2019ve been flattered and fortunate that so many accomplished, talented people have approached me about adapting the book for both the big and small screen. Many a meeting at Soho House WeHo was had,\u201d Mehr wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the years, and through various iterations, I\u2019ve continued to believe that the Replacements\u2019 tale would eventually transcend the page and find life in another format.<\/p>\n \u201cTo that end, I\u2019m grateful to my friend Finn, his father Eric, and producer Richard Peete for having a real vision for this book and this band. Also \u2014 atomic name drop incoming \u2014 I have to thank Winona Ryder who\u2019s been a great pal and champion and was instrumental in bringing me and Finn together.\u201d<\/p>\n At this point, no studio is attached to the film. As Mehr wrote: \u201cAs with all things Hollywood, the future is unknown, so I don\u2019t want to comment beyond this. But hopefully, in the words of the Canadian poet Randy Bachman, you ain\u2019t seen nothing yet!\u201d<\/p>\n In 1978, guitarist Bob Stinson was 19 when he gave his 11-year-old brother Tommy a bass guitar. Soon after, the pair hooked up with Chris Mars, a guitarist who switched to the drums. Paul Westerberg joined after hearing the band rehearsing at the Stinsons\u2019 home.<\/p>\n The Replacements were still called the Impediments when they played their first public concert in April 1980 at a St. Paul teen rehab center called Team House. They were booked for two sets but got fired after they were discovered drinking in the parking lot after the first performance. A few days later, vocalist Westerberg changed the name of the band to the Replacements.<\/p>\n A month after their first concert, the Replacements gave Twin\/Tone Records co-founder Peter Jesperson a four-song demo. He immediately signed the band to his label and became their manager.<\/p>\n The Replacements went on to record three albums for Twin\/Tone and 1984\u2019s \u201cLet It Be\u201d \u2014 which is being reissued<\/a> next month with added rarities and a live show \u2014 earned rave reviews and the attention of the majors. The group eventually signed with Sire Records, which released four more albums, from 1985\u2019s \u201cTim\u201d to 1990\u2019s \u201cAll Shook Down.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Replacements were perpetually touted as the next big thing, they never broke through to a wide audience. That was in part due to the band\u2019s own doing, from rampant substance abuse to ramshackle live performances designed to antagonize the audience. In 1986, they made an infamous, profanity-laced debut as the musical guests on \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201d Producer Lorne Michaels subsequently banned them from the show, although he did welcome back Westerberg as a solo artist in 1993.<\/p>\n After a final tour in 1991, the Replacements called it quits.<\/p>\n Tommy Stinson formed the short-lived bands Bash and Pop and Perfect before joining Guns N\u2019 Roses in 1998, a position he held for 16 years. His brother Bob, who was fired from the Replacements in 1986, died in 1995.<\/p>\n Mars released several solo albums before focusing his attention on painting. Westerberg recorded for several labels and scored alt-rock radio hits with \u201cDyslexic Heart\u201d and \u201cWorld Class Fad.\u201d<\/p>\n The Replacements reunited in 2013 to play several festivals as well as St. Paul\u2019s Midway Stadium in September 2014 and then mounted a full 2015 tour before calling it quits once again.<\/p>\n Mehr first met Westerberg in 2004 when he was working on a magazine profile. They hit it off, and after Mehr was asked to provide liner notes for a 2008 reissue of the Replacements\u2019 \u201cTim,\u201d he pitched a book idea to the band. Westerberg, Tommy Stinson and many key figures in the band\u2019s history agreed to be interviewed and Mehr spent years researching and writing what would become \u201cTrouble Boys<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n A critical and commercial hit upon its release in 2016, \u201cTrouble Boys\u201d was named an NPR, Amazon and Rolling Stone book of the year. It also landed on Billboard\u2019s \u201c100 Greatest Music Books of All Time\u201d list. Mehr has won two Grammy Awards for writing liner notes to the Replacements\u2019 \u201cDead Man\u2019s Pop\u201d box set and a deluxe edition of Wilco\u2019s \u201cYankee Hotel Foxtrot.\u201d<\/p>\n Finn Wolfhard, 22, is best known for starring in \u201cStranger Things\u201d and the \u201cIt\u201d and \u201cGhostbusters\u201d franchises. He also co-wrote and co-directed the 2023 comedy horror film \u201cHell of a Summer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nReplacements history<\/h4>\n
Post-Replacements<\/h4>\n
\u2018Trouble Boys\u2019<\/h4>\n
Related Articles<\/h2>\n