Shout It Out Loud has found its Paul Stanley. The music biopic is set in the 1970s and follow the formation of the iconic rock band KISS, who are known for their over-the-top stage presence and black-and-white makeup. The core of the band and their onstage personas are Paul Stanley/Starchild (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons/Demon (bass and vocals), Ace Frehley/Spaceman (drums and vocals), and Peter Criss/Catman (lead guitar and vocals). The movie will be directed by McG (The Babysitter) and Darren Lemke (Gemini Man) wrote the most recent draft of the screenplay.
Per Deadline, Nick Jonas has been cast as Paul Stanley in Shout It Out Loud. Jonas will reportedly perform the singing himself, and he will be undergoing training to replicate Stanley's vocals. Meanwhile, the search is still on for a star to portray iconic KISS vocalist and bassist Gene Simmons, though Deadline reports that the production may be drawing close to making a decision. The movie, which is being financed by STX, is expected to kick off production in either late 2025 or early 2026.
What This Means For Shout It Out Loud
Nick Jonas Is A Strong Asset For The Biopic
Nick Jonas is well-prepared to take on the role of Paul Stanley for a variety of reasons. One key reason is the fact that the multitalented performer has been a professional singer since he was a child. In addition to performing in Broadway musicals since he was seven, including Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, and Annie Get Your Gun, he is one of the three of the iconic boy band The Jonas Brothers with his siblings Joe and Kevin. The group has had numerous hit singles, including "Year 3000," "Burnin' Up," "What a Man Gotta Do," and "Sucker."
The Jonas Brothers formed in 2005 and went on a hiatus in 2013 before returning in 2019.
However, outside of his Jonas Brothers career, Nick Jonas has also proven his chops as a dramatic actor in a number of non-musical projects. Although he has appeared in musicals such as Camp Rock and Smash, as an actor he is better known for roles including Nate Kulina in the three-season MMA drama Kingdom, Boone Clemens in the Ryan Murphy horror-comedy series Scream Queens, and Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough in the adventure movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and its sequel The Next Level. Shout It Out Loud will call upon him to utilize these skills alongside his singing prowess.
Our Take On The Shout It Out Loud Casting
It Could Live Up To KISS' Legacy
Because KISS is a band that requires a quartet of larger-than-life performers to bring it to the screen, the casting of Shout It Out Loud will be extremely important to the project’s success. However, if McG and his production team can bring on three more leads of the same caliber as Nick Jonas, they should have no problem crafting a movie that lives up to legacy of an iconic band that has now lasted for more than 50 years.
Source: Deadline
