As I write this in September 2014, there are daily announcements of biopics scheduled for release and in the pipeline.
Like all other staple genres, comic book adaptations, thrillers, horrors, rom-coms, the genre will continue to be one that intrigues and fascinates. And as with all other film genres, some will be great successes, and others will fail.
But ultimately biographical-pictures, bio-pics, will succeed if filmmakers find imaginative ways to present the life in question. They will have to manipulate the vast quantities of material available to them, to create a compelling well-constructed narrative. As with documentary films, there will be accusations of bias, what has been included and what has been left out. The interests of the filmmakers will inevitably be reflected in the work. The ‘truth’ will always be distorted.
‘When the legend becomes truth, print the legend.’
– newspaperman Maxwell Scott,
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)