First Look: Official Image from ‘The Runaways’

Published by Jeff Leins on: December 14th, 2009

The first image is available now from The Runaways, the music biopic with New Moon co-stars Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning as members of the 70’s all-girl group. If aviator sunglasses weren’t back already, they’d be totally radical now. In related news, I’m bringing back the word “radical.”

The film, also starring Scout Taylor-Compton, Michael Shannon, Alia Shawkat, and Tatum O’Neal, is playing out of competition at the Sundance Film Festival next month and the first screening is Sunday, January 24. I guess we’ll know in a little over a month whether the film is rockin’ or not.

Apparition has already acquired Runaways for domestic distribution a month before the festival, announcing a March 19 release, according to THR.

Official synopsis:
Of all the bands to come out of the 1970s Los Angeles music scene, The Runaways are by far the most uniquely fascinating. This is partially due to their music but more so to the fact that they were teenage girls whose wild and reckless lifestyle was the stuff of legend.

Focusing on the duo of guitarist/vocalist Joan Jett and lead vocalist Cherie Currie as they navigate a rocky road of touring and record-label woes, the film chronicles the band’s formation as well as their meteoric rise under the malevolent eye of an abusive manager.

Acclaimed video artist Floria Sigismondi directs from her own script and her luscious camerawork captures every sweaty detail—from the filthy trailer where the women practiced to the mosh pits of Tokyo. What really makes the film cook are the sizzling performances by Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart. Not to be missed, The Runaways is an ode to an era and a groundbreaking band.