The 2001 Judas Priest-inspired movie Rock Star was a commercial flop despite a couple of big-name stars in Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston. And the former Priest frontman that inspired the movie thinks he knows why.
Rock Star began as a story about Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, who took over for Rob Halford in 1996 after fronting his own Judas Priest tribute band. But by the time it came out, the movie had morphed into a generic rom-com that made no mention of Judas Priest, Owens, or Halford.
Even though the movie flopped at the box office, Owens says he’s still asked to sign DVD covers to this day – even though he doesn’t appear in the movie and isn’t mentioned by name.
These days, Halford is back fronting Judas Priest while Owens is part of the Dio Returns hologram tour.
What’s your favorite rock-n-roll movie? What did you think of Rock Star?