The British veteran will portray Hilly Kristal, owner and founder of the legendary New York nightclub which played a pivotal role in the birth of the US punk scene.

Randall Miller and Jody Savin wrote the screenplay, Miller will direct and the partners will produce through their Unclaimed Freight Productions. 

Brad Rosenberger, a music industry veteran who recently left his post as svp of Warner-Chappell Music to partner with Miller and Savin on several projects, will also produce.  

Rosenberger brought the pair the Dennis Wilson project The Drummer, which was set to go in June and has been pushed back to autumn to accommodate cast and schedules.

In a statement the Savin said, “We wrote this role for Alan Rickman who, like Hilly Kristal, is a true champion of the arts. Neither Hilly nor Alan approach art from a point of view of elitism. To me that is heroic.”

“This is a film about a time and a place and the people that came together to make music that was revolutionary and that spoke to its community,” Miller said. “Forbes Magazine is quoted as saying, ‘This is some of the best casting I’ve ever heard.’”