INXS' Hutchence: Film To Chart Star's Life

INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, who commited suicide 15 years ago this week, is to be the subject of a new film.

Work on the project, which will chart the life and times of the charismatic Australian rock star, will start in the new year but there is no indication about who will play Hutchence.

Former Hollywood screenwriter Bobby Galinsky, best-known for his work on the 1990 Kiefer Sutherland thriller Flatliners, is behind it.

He told ABC radio in Australia: "It is a big task. I've been a writer for 35 years and this is something I've wanted to do for over a decade and everything has now come together with it."

The film, to be called Two Worlds Colliding, is based on the book Just A Man - The Real Michael Hutchence which was penned by the singer's mother and sister.

Galinsky said he planned it to be along the lines of Ray, the story of Ray Charles, or Walk The Line which focused on Johnny Cash, "about a life, not a chapter".

"We'd like to start in his childhood and what made the man, then the evolution of when he got into INXS and how that transformed him, and then of course his personal life," said Galinsky.

"I want it to be what was behind the man, not just the guy you saw on stage, but who was Michael Hutchence, what drove him, what were his demons, what were his loves, not the persona that people saw on stage for a couple of hours."

During his life, Hutchence had a string of love affairs with prominent actresses, models and singers, including Kylie Minogue.

But he was found dead in a Sydney hotel room in 1997, with the coroner ruling his death was suicide while the singer was depressed and under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

He left behind a daughter, Tiger Lily, from a relationship with British TV presenter Paula Yates, who died of a heroin overdose in 2000.

Tiger Lily now lives with her legal guardian, Yates's former husband Bob Geldof.

INXS were one of the world's biggest acts throughout the late 1980s and early '90s, fuelled by Hutchence's charismatic performances, with the band having multiple hits around the world.

Asked who he saw as his leading man, Galinsky replied: "I have been in conversation with couple of guys, there is an English gentleman, several Australians, but I would hate to pick someone out at the moment."

INXS, which continued on without Hutchence, announced their retirement after 35 years earlier this month.