Netflix’s The Dirt Trailer Brings Motley Crue’s Story To The Screen

If Bohemian Rhapsody peaked your interest for high-energy biopics about the headlining bands of yesteryear, you’re in luck. Netflix will soon be releasing an original movie that follows the legendary history of ‘80s heavy metal band, Mötley Crüe, titled The Dirt. Check out the first trailer:

Kickstart. My. Heart. The Dirt looks wild! The Netflix release looks to be delving into the band’s beginnings, their music’s rise to the top and many high-profile incidents. The movie stars Iwan Rhodes as Mick Mars, Douglas Booth as Nikki Six, Machine Gun Kelly as Tommy Lee and Daniel Webber as Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe, along with SNL’s Pete Davidson as record executive Tom Zutat.

The trailer faithfully matches the high intensity of the metal band’s music and some of the band member’s personal struggles such as Nikki Sixx’s heroin addiction, Mick Mars’ battle with bone disease ankylosing spondylitis and Tommy Lee’s tumulus marriage with Heather Locklear. The band rose to fame for the amazing energy they brought to their live shows, leading them to impressive crowds as stadium headers.

When Nirvana and Pearl Jam hit the scene in the ‘90s, Mötley Crüe became a casualty, though they made a comeback in 2005 when they reunited as a band and started playing again. The Dirt is based on an autobiography about the band called The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band that delves into the band’s scandalous private lives.

The Dirt was originally announced back in 2015, to be released through Focus Features, but Netflix now has it. The biopic is directed by Jackass director Jeff Tremaine and written by Rich Wilkes, who has penned the xXx movies and Airheads.

The release comes just as Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has passed $853 million worldwide and been receiving award season buzz. Along with The Dirt, there’s more music-centric movies on the way as well. Rocketman starring Kingsman’s Taron Egerton as Elton John in a musical loosely based on the pop sensation’s life is coming to theaters this summer.

A new twist on The Beatles’ music is also coming soon from Danny Boyle called Yesterday. The first trailer dropped last week, introducing the story of a struggling musician who finds out one day he is the only person in the world to remember the iconic British invasion band’s music and decides to capitalize on it.

The Dirt certainly came at the right time when interest in musicians’ lives on screen are at an all time high. The Mötley Crüe tale promises scandal, craziness and a soundtrack of their greatest hits such as “Home Sweet Home”, “Girls, Girls, Girls” and “Wild Side”. The Dirt will hit Netflix on March 22.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.