Cult rock band getting musical biopic.
Ken Kwapis (‘Big Miracle,’ ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’) is set to produce and direct a feature adaptation of the off-Broadway musical ‘The Shaggs: Philosophy Of The World,’ reports Deadline.
The musical is based on the real-life story of Dorothy “Dot” Wiggin, Betty Wiggin, and Helen Wiggin, a trio of teenage sisters from rural New Hampshire who formed a band in 1968 at the insistence of their father, who believed that his mother foresaw the band’s rise to stardom. Their lone studio album, ‘Philosophy Of The World,’ was ridiculed and barely released. It wasn’t until it was rediscovered in the early 1980s, that it was hailed as groundbreaking outsider music by the likes of such notable fans as Kurt Cobain and Frank Zappa.
“Most people are startled when they hear the Shaggs for the first time,” said Kwapis. “Their sound is awkward and unpolished, but their songs have a purity of expression that no amount of musical training can give you. And behind the music is a powerful story of three girls who yearn to rise above their meagre existence, while under the yoke of a demanding father who believes they are destined for greatness.”