In defiance of the ancient prophecy “when gearhead and meathead are one, the end of days has begun,” Entourage writer-producer Rob Weiss is taking over the production of Fox 2000’s Hell’s Angels. The film is based on the life of Hell’s Angels leader and two-time felon Sonny Barger, who rode alongside Jack Nicholson and Adam Roarke in 1967’s Hell’s Angels On Wheels and more recently appeared as Lenny “The Pimp” Janowitz on Sons Of Anarchy. Aside from his acting roles, Barger is legendary among bikers for founding the Oakland chapter of the Hell’s Angels when he was only 18, a position that led to considerable ‘60s counterculture cred—up until the day Sonny and his gang worked security at Altamont, that is.
Weiss says that the movie will cover all this as it chronicles Barger’s life from the late 1950s until the early ‘70s, calling it “a period piece that explores the early days of the club, the philosophy of the formidable, most loyal brotherhood that started it and what drove Sonny, who had the leadership and the vision to expand the club.” This is a departure from original director Tony Scott’s vision for the film; Scott was developing the idea with writer Scott Frank when he committed suicide in 2012, and envisioned Hell’s Angels as the story of a cop who attempts to infiltrate the infamous motorcycle club. But while the story may have changed, Deadline says that Scott will still be posthumously credited as a producer of Hell’s Angels.