Filming for Control, the long-awaited film about Joy Division's late frontman, Ian Curtis, began this week.

 

The movie is being directed by distinguished music video director and photographer Anton Corbijn, who photographed the band in 1979 and directed their posthumous video for "Atmosphere" in 1998. He's also worked with U2, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Coldplay, among others.

 

Control is based on the 1995 book, Touching From A Distance, which was written by Curtis' widow, Deborah Curtis. The film will focus on the turbulent final years of Curtis' life before he committed suicide in 1980 at age 23 as Joy Division were preparing to depart on their first North American tour. It includes the romantic friction between Curtis and his wife, as well as his mistress, Annik Honore. The singer's incapacitating epileptic seizures and his performances with Joy Division will also be highlighted.

 

Deborah Curtis is co-producing the film alongside Tony Wilson, the Factory Records founder who signed Joy Division in 1978. The script was written by Matt Greenhalgh, who talked to those closest to Curtis, including Honore, who had previously been tight-lipped about her relationship.

 

Sam Riley, who played The Fall's Mark E. Smith in 24 Hour Party People (which captured the Manchester music scene that Factory helped develop) and fronts the band 10,000 Things, plays Curtis. Academy Award-nominated actress Samantha Morton portrays his wife, while Alexandra Maria Lara fills the role of Honore. James Anthony Pearson is Joy Division/New Order guitarist Bernard Sumner, Joe Anderson is bassist Peter Hook, Harry Treadaway is drummer Stephen Morris, Toby Kebbell is Factory partner and Joy Division manager Rob Gretton, and Craig Parkinson plays Wilson.

 

Filming will take place in the English towns of Nottingham and Macclesfield (where Curtis lived and is now buried). The movie is scheduled for release by Momentum Pictures sometime next year.

 

The biopic will feature a stellar soundtrack featuring original tracks recorded by Warsaw (the band's name before Joy Division) and Joy Division, as well as a score composed by New Order. Other artists featured on the soundtrack include David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Roxy Music, Lou Reed and the Buzzcocks.

Craig Parkinson playing Tony Wilson? You gotta be kiddin'