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‘Elvis’ (2022) -

‘Elvis’ portrays the relationship between the singer and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, but Baz Luhrmann's story omits a few details. For instance, Elvis and Parker didn’t close the management deal atop a carnival Ferris wheel.

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‘Elvis’ (2022) -

The movie also places Elvis’ Christmas special on the same day as the assassination of JFK, but the president was actually murdered a few weeks prior. Elvis also didn’t fire Parker while onstage in Las Vegas.

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‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (2018) -

The biopic of Queen front man Freddie Mercury (played by Rami Malek) was very successful, but it too lied to us. The film portrays the singer as being diagnosed with AIDS just before the band’s Live Aid performance in 1985, but the diagnosis didn’t take place until one to two years later. 

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‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (2018) -

Another creative liberty taken by the film includes the split of Queen following Mercury’s solo deal. This wasn't really accurate, as the band just decided to take a break from their hectic schedule. Oh, and by the way, record executive Ray Foster (played by Mike Myers) is a completely fictional character!

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‘The Doors’ (1991) -

Oliver Stone’s biopic starring Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison was heavily criticized by The Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, who said the late singer's personality was nothing like the one portrayed in the movie. “The film portrays Jim as a violent, drunken fool. That wasn't Jim," Manzarek said.

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‘Straight Outta Compton’ (2015) -

The biopic of rap group N.W.A was a huge commercial success, but it missed one important event. In 1991, Dre assaulted female journalist Dee Barnes. He was sentenced to two years' probation. The incident is not mentioned in the movie.

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‘Rocketman’ (2019) -

Okay, this is more of a musical fantasy rather than a classic biopic, but when it comes to facts, it also gets pretty blurry. For instance, there is a scene where Elton John bails on a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden to check into rehab. This never happened.

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‘Rocketman’ (2019) -

Elton John is also depicted singing ‘Crocodile Rock’ at the Troubadour in 1970, but the song wasn’t released until 1972.

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‘Blonde’ (2022) -

The movie is based on a fictional account of Marilyn Monroe's life written by Joyce Carol Oates, so while it has biographical elements, it’s not a pure biopic. Still, several major events were fabricated, including Monroe's throuple with with Charlie Chaplin Jr. and Edward G. Robinson Jr., and the subsequent abortion.

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‘The Aviator’ (2004) -

Martin Scorsese’s biopic about Howard Hughes fails to address his alleged predatory behavior towards young actresses during auditions, as well as accusations of racism.

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‘The Aviator’ (2004) -

‘The Aviator’ also fails to mention the time Hughes hit his girlfriend Ava Gardner so hard that he dislocated her jaw. Gardner hit him back with an ashtray.

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‘A Complete Unknown’ (2024) -

Bob Dylan’s biopic was a huge box office success, but it contained many inaccuracies. Dylan’s girlfriend was not Sylvie Russo (played by Elle Fanning). Instead, his real-life girlfriend was called Suze Rotolo.

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‘A Complete Unknown’ (2024) -

The film also depicts Sylvie and Dylan riding to Newport on his motorcycle in 1965, but by that time, the singer's future wife Sara Lownds was already pregnant.

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‘A Complete Unknown’ (2024) -

Other inaccuracies include the fact that Dylan didn’t write 'Blowin' in the Wind' while watching the news about the Cuban Missile Crisis (he did so months later), as well as his meeting with Johnny Cash at the Newport festival, who didn’t perform there in 1965.

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‘Walk the Line’ (2005) -

Speaking of Johnny Cash, his biopic is also full of inaccuracies, especially when it came to the portrayal of Cash’s first wife, Vivian.

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‘Walk the Line’ (2005) -

"My mom was basically a nonentity in the entire film except for the mad little psycho who hated his career. That's not true. She loved his career and was proud of him until he started taking drugs and stopped coming home," her daughter Kathy Cash said.

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‘Back to Black’ (2024) -

The biopic of Amy Winehouse fails to give producer Mark Ronson a prominent role in the movie. Viewers also get the impression that it was Amy Winehouse's grandmother who helped create her iconic beehive hairdo, which was not the case.

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‘Phil Spector’ (2013) -

The film focuses on the relationship between the music producer (played by Al Pacino) and his defense attorney, Linda Kenney Baden (played by Helen Mirren). Phil Spector's third wife, Rachelle, protested about its inaccuracies, and so did the friends of Lana Clarkson, whom Spector was accused of murdering.

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‘Phil Spector’ (2013) -

Screenwriter David Mamet clarified that "it's really not the story of Phil Spector” and that “almost everything is hypothetical."

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‘Stoned’ (2005) -

‘Stoned’ is the biopic of the late guitarist of The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones. Jones accidentally drowned while intoxicated, but there is a theory that he was murdered, proof of which has never been found. The film, however, explored this unproven theory.

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‘The Runaways’ (2010) -

You won’t see much of bass player Jackie Fox in the biopic about the female rock band The Runaways. This is because the former band member refused to collaborate with the producers. Later, Fox alleged she was sexually assaulted by the band's producer, Kim Fowley, something that was not included in the film.

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‘The Buddy Holly Story’ (1978) -

The movie about the life of rock and roll singer Buddy Holly also has a number of inaccuracies. The main one was producer Norman Petty, who co-wrote hits such as ‘Peggy Sue’ but was left out of the movie.

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‘Where the Buffalo Roam’ (1980) -

‘Where the Buffalo Roam’ is a semi-biographical movie about the journalist Hunter S. Thompson. One inaccuracy includes Thompson's Mexican-American friend and attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta, who was played by Peter Boyle.

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‘Where the Buffalo Roam’ (1980) -

The character was then renamed Carl Lazlo because the Chicano community complained about Boyle playing a Hispanic character.

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‘The Hurricane’ (1999) -

Denzel Washington plays boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who is wrongly accused of a triple murder. However, the movie doesn't tell the whole story. For instance, it fails to mention that Carter had already served three years in prison for mugging people.

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‘The Hurricane’ (1999) -

‘The Hurricane’ also includes a fictional racist police officer called Della Pesca (played by Dan Hedaya), who supposedly hounded Carter since he was young.

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‘Cobb’ (1994) -

The biopic of baseball star Ty Cobb (played by Tommy Lee Jones) also lied to us. The movie is based on a book written by sports writer Al Stump, which Cobb disliked. A writer called William R. Cobb later investigated Stump’s claims and discovered that much of the information was fake. Much of this fabricated information was the basis of the film.

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‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ (2022) -

In true "Weird Al" Yankovic style, the movie is a parody of biopics. The claims are therefore absurd and wrong. E.g. Michael Jackson recorded ‘Beat It’ as a parody of Weird Al’s ‘Eat It,’ and not the other way round.

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‘Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story’ (2001) -

The story of British rockers Def Leppard faced heavy criticism for its poor quality. TV critic Scott Iwasaki even compared it to the 1984 mockumentary ‘This Is Spinal Tap.’ "The movie reduces Def Leppard to one-dimensional caricatures," he said. Def Leppard’s singer Joe Elliott said the movie was “low-budget” and “badly researched.”

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‘The Dirt’ (2019) -

The biopic of Mötley Crüe is based on an autobiography of the band, but there are a few things that are not covered in the movie. For one, Vince Neil was not the band's first singer—that was Odean Peterson.  

Sources: (Grunge) (IMDB) (NPR (Today)

See also: Reel life: The best biopic films ever made

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