The completed Cillian Murphy movie that has never been released
There aren’t many actors in the world right now who can compete with the swagger of Cillian Murphy. Having starred in one of the biggest movies of the year – taking the lead role in Oppenheimer, a Christopher Nolan masterpiece focusing on the life of Robert J. Oppenheimer – Murphy is now in possession of one of the best acting resumes in Hollywood. Considering his box office pull, it seems preposterous that any studio would happily sit on a Murphy movie and hold it back from release.
Starring Murphy and Sienna Miller, Hippie, Hippie Shake is the kind of movie that would light up a mid-season release schedule. Based on the memoir of Australian publisher Richard Melville, the flick concentrates on the counterculture movement of the 1960s in Australia and depicts Melville (played by Murphy) and his girlfriend Louise Ferrier (Miller) as they navigate a courtroom drama.
Melville and Ferrier fight for their lives after being put on trial for publishing an “obscene” edition of their magazine Oz. A biopic of sorts, the test screenings were generally positive, and the movie looked set to be released to acclaim. However, for a decade, the film has been held back from large-scale release.
The movie may well have been cursed from the very start. Focused on the love shared between Melville and Ferrier as the former tries to start Oz‘s new London edition, the premise seemed a perfect framework for Miller and Murphy to share the screen and deliver a delightful British drama. Work began in 1998 on the movie but didn’t begin principal photography until 2007. However, just four years later, production company Working Title confirmed it would not be released in cinemas.
The truth behind why it won’t be shared with the wider public is up for debate. However, many have pointed to Germaine Greer, feminist pioneer, writer and one of the people depicted in the movie, and her vitriolic reply to Emma Booth’s portrayal of her. “You used to have to die before assorted hacks started munching your remains and modelling a new version of you,” shared Greer in The Guardian, even telling Booth to “get an honest job.”
Others have suggested it was the loss of husband and wife team Lee Hall and director Beeban Kidron that signalled the end of the movie’s shot at release. While Hall had left earlier in the production, Kidron would eventually remove herself from the project, telling The Times: “I worked on the film for as long as I could and as hard as I could and then I had to walk away. It was very wounding.”
Though it must be frustrating to work on a project that never sees the light of day, those involved may well have dodged a bullet. While test screenings saw audiences generally enjoy the movie, Felix Dennis of The Times labelled it “quite possibly the worst film to be made in the 21st century… an absolute stinker.”
With Cillian Murphy’s star power, it would seem silly to hold on to Hippie Hippie Shake for too much longer. But without a murmur of its impending release, this one may stay hidden forever.
