Stones get what they want with £50m TV deal
THEY are famously fond of making money, and the Rolling Stones are celebrating their 60th anniversary by doing just that — kicking off the UK leg of their tour with a show at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool last night before a string of sold-out dates, culminating in performances in Hyde Park on June 25 and July 3.
And there’s more good news for their accountants: it can be revealed that the band has negotiated another giant payday.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards — the Stones’ credited songwriters — have agreed a massive deal to allow some of their songs and story to be used in a drama for the first time.
The team behind The crown are making plans to shoot a new 16-part drama series about the band, which is as-yet untitled. It will be shown in two eight-part series by the network FX.
I’m told that the production budget has been bloated by demands from the Stones for recompense for allowing their lives and their music to feature. A pal of Jagger’s tells me that ‘around £50 million’ will go to them jointly as a result.
That’s a stunning chunk of change, but it seems that a judgment call was made by the show-runners that this was the only way the project would be worth doing.
The programmes will cover the period from the Rolling Stones’ formation in 1962 until the release of the album It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll in 1974 (before Ronnie Wood joined).
They will cover the death of Brian Jones in 1969 — the founder member and rhythm guitarist was found drowned in a swimming pool after being sacked from the band — and the eventful making of the 1972 album Exile On Main Street in the South of France, during which time Mick married Bianca and dallied with Keith’s girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, while Richards drifted into heroin addiction.
The new series is being made by British company Left Bank Pictures. Respected British author Nick Hornby was writing it, and had held meetings with Jagger, but is no longer involved.
I’m told: ‘The Stones see this series as being their legacy. When they can’t tour any more, this will remain alongside the music. It’s a bit like Abba and their [digital performance] ABBAtars.’
NO CASTING has yet been announced but the TV drama will go into production in 2024. The crown is one of the most expensive drama series ever produced, costing around £10 million an episode. Although the Rolling Stones series will be cheaper to make, requiring fewer built sets and fewer big-name stars, it is likely to cost about the same because of the money that has to be paid to Jagger and Richards. It won’t come close, though, to the alpha layer of super-prestige TV dramas. The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power will debut on Amazon Prime Video in September and will be the costliest drama series ever made, at a staggering £46million per episode. Behind it is Stranger Things, which has an immense special effects budget, resulting in a price tag of £23million per episode. The Disney+ series Moon Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi and WandaVision work out at around £19million per show.
In 2016 Jagger co-created the fictitious series Vinyl with his friend, director Martin Scorsese. It was about the music business in the 1970s and starred his son, James. Mick also runs Jagged Films, which makes movies and documentaries.
Earlier this year I revealed that the annual balance sheet filed by holding company Promogroup in Amsterdam suggests that the Stones paid just over £300,000 in tax on an income of £36 million.