KISS in possible autobiographical movie, animated TV series

ROCK superheroes KISS are working on a movie, a TV series and a video game that will “kick your a--”, bombastic band spokesman Gene Simmons has revealed.

ROCK superheroes KISS are working on a movie, a TV series and a video game that will “kick your a--”, bombastic band spokesman Gene Simmons has revealed.

In an interview with Brisbane’s Courier-Mail to promote the band’s recent Australian tour, the 66-year-old “Demon” declined to reveal specifics about the projects so as not to steal the thunder of the various stakeholders. But some details can be inferred from what little information he did divulge.

“There’s a motion picture that’s scripted that is being planned by a guy called Mark Johnston, who produced the Narnia movies, and also produced the Breaking Bad series — so legitimate, high-end stuff,” Simmons said.

Hinting that the movie might be autobiographical, he added: “We (the band) are involved, but if you’re gonna tell the story of somebody who’s 22 years old, it’s better to get an actor.”

It would be the first live-action movie featuring the band members as central characters since 1978’s so-bad-it’s-good KISS Meet the Phantom of the Park (released in Australia and Europe as KISS in Attack of the Phantoms).

Meanwhile, the new TV series could mean the realisation of Simmons’ lifelong ambition to do a KISS cartoon. Phantom of the Park was originally pitched as an animated series, and the band have guest-starred on Family Guy and The Simpsons, as well as recently joining another icon, Scooby-Doo, for the animated movie Rock and Roll Mystery.

“I can’t say more about it except that Warner Bros is doing it,” Simmons says of the new series. However Warner Bros’ involvement in the Scooby-Doo movie suggests the new series might also be animated.

The Scooby-Doo movie introduced such concepts as the alternate universe of KISSteria (which looks like something straight out of comic legend Jack Kirby’s ’70s New Gods series of which Simmons is a fan), duelling gods The Elder and Destroyer (who happen to share their names with KISS albums), and the band cruising the galaxy in a guitar-shaped spaceship — all concepts that would lend themselves to an ongoing series.

As for whose tongue is longer, his or Scooby’s, Simmons doesn’t hesitate: “Mine, of course.”

On the subject of a KISS video game, Simmons said: “There’s a new Activision electronic game coming that’s just gonna kick your ass, it’s so exciting.”

The band have previously collaborated with Activision on a KISS version of the Rock Star guitar simulator, however it is not yet known whether the new game would be similar or a whole new one with more traditional gameplay.