Courtesy of ESX Entertainment
EXCLUSIVE: Ali Afshar‘s ESX Entertainment has signed on to develop and produce the musical biopic Wind of Change, about German rock band Scorpions, which will tell the story of three unlikely friends whose passion for rock n’ roll fueled their rise from the ashes of post-World War II Germany to the global stardom in the 1980s as the multi-platinum rock band Scorpions.
With their home soil still divided, and friends and family on the other side of the Berlin Wall, Rudolf Schenker, Klaus Meine & Matthias Jabs made the bold decision to defy state bans and take a leap of faith behind Soviet lines to fill arenas in the heart of the USSR. At the height of their revolutionary tour, the band releases what will become the defining theme for the end of the Cold War – a ballad that circles the globe as the Wall comes down and resonates to this day as an anthem for peace.
The movie’s title comes from the band’s 1991 global hit single, which was released after the failed coup that would lead to the end of the Soviet Union. That’s when the Soviet Union’s hardline Communist party hardliners tried to take control of the USSR from Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. The single sold 14M copies worldwide.
French-born filmmaker Alex Ranarivelo (American Wrestler: The Wizard) will direct.
Says Afshar, “The Scorpions’ music has penetrated our culture in a big way.”
“There is an evocative quality to their sound that is unmatched in the genre, which is one of the reasons hits like ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’ and ‘Still Loving You’ continue to get so much airplay and fill movie soundtracks, and their music continues to connect with a new generation of fans across the globe,” the producer adds.
“When my family fled Iran and came to the United States, the Scorpions’ music changed my life – if not saved it,” he continues. “I’m hoping that by telling the Scorpions’ story, we can bring some of that same inspiration to the world,” Afshar says.
Wind of Change is being produced by ESX Entertainment’s Christina Moore and Daniel Aspromonte (Bennett’s War, American Fighter). The film is slated for production in Europe later this year, targeting a 2025 release to coincide with the Scorpions’ highly anticipated 60th Anniversary celebrations.
