Critics split on Pete Davidson’s casting as Joey Ramone: “Joey deserves better than this!”

NME

Critics have been sharing their responses to Pete Davidson’s casting as Joey Ramone, with split opinions so far.

Yesterday (April 15), it was announced that Davidson would play the late Ramones frontman in upcoming Netflix biopic I Slept With Joey Ramone. The film was announced to mark 20 years since Ramone died, after a seven-year battle with lymphoma.

The film will be directed by Jason Orley, who worked with Davidson on Big Time Adolescence and Pete Davidson: Alive from New York and will be based on Ramone’s brother Mickey Leigh’s memoir of the same name.

I Slept With Joey Ramone will be produced by Netflix in partnership with STX, and has the support of the Estate of Joey Ramone.

In response to the casting, a number of critics have shared their opinion on Twitter. Critic Evan Rytlewski wrote: “This is good casting. Pete Davidson is a meh comedian and a boring public figure but sometimes a surprisingly decent actor in roles that don’t ask him to do much. Playing Joey Ramone is pretty low on the challenge scale. Also Pete Davidson is tall.”

However, some are less than keen on Davidson playing Ramone, with Variety’s Manori Ravindran calling the casting “bullshit” and saying Joey “deserves better than this, damn it!”

A number of commenters on social media called for Adam Driver to play Ramone instead of Davidson. “HOW are you gonna cast Pete Davidson as Joey Ramone when Adam Driver is right there,” one wrote.

Adam Fogelson, chairman of STXfilms Motion Picture Group, said of the new film in a statement: “When you share a bed with someone – and not just a bed, but a childhood, a family, and a lifetime – you know that person better than anybody else.

“Mickey Leigh not only collaborated with his big brother’s band – he has irreplaceable memories of and insights into Joey Ramone, having supported him when no one else would and witnessed him overcome adversity in the most dramatic way.”

Last month, a host of bands including Creeper, We Are Scientists and The Futureheads came together for a livestreamed gig in tribute to the late Ramones frontman Joey Ramone, celebrating what would’ve been his 70th birthday.

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