Gregg Allman Does What’s Right In The Wake Of Tragedy

It turns out Gregg Allman has another cross to bear and this is one he never could have imagined coming down on him.

Allman is now, according to Rolling Stone magazine, pleading with director Randall Miller to stop production of Midnight Rider, the movie based on the life of the legendary musician and founding member of The Allman Brothers Band.

The reason is, apparently, that Allman’s conscious won’t allow him to go forward with the film after a tragic incident in February occurred involving a camera assistant Sarah Jones being struck and killed by a train during the filming of a scene.

In a letter to Miller acquired by The Hollywood Reporter, Allman wrote the following: "I am writing to you as one human being to another, and appealing to you from my heart. I am asking you from a personal perspective not to go forward (with the film)…..Your desires as a filmmaker should not outweigh your obligations as a human being."

What’s interesting to note is that Allman had said recently that he could cease the production himself at any time. Earlier this year, he told Rolling Stone he had "veto rights over everything," in regard to the movie. "If you had them doing your life story on the big screen, wouldn't you want to be able to erase anything out of there that you didn’t want?" he asked. "I can pull the plug on it anytime."

What I gather from this is that Allman is hoping Miller does the right thing and pulls the plug on the movie himself without forcing Allman’s hand to do it for him.

This reminds me a lot of a tragic incident on the set of The Twilight Zone movie back in 1983 in which actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were killed during the filming of a segment of the movie involving a helicopter crash. Director John Landis was eventually not found to be criminally at fault for the accident but he did take a lot of heat for continuing to film the movie despite the tragedy.

At the end of the day Gregg Allman is doing the right thing but he’s probably going to face some resistance on this since there are tons of people from the actors to the grips who are all hired to put this film together. It would be one thing if it were a handful of band-mates who are told they’re latest gig has been cancelled. The next time you see a movie, check out the long list of names scrolling down the screen and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

I'm sure Allman also stands to lose some serious money with this movie which speaks a lot to his character. Clearly money and notoriety is not nearly enough to overcome what his heart and soul are telling him. I’m also sure his experiences losing a loved one before their time has a lot to do with it too as Allman lost both his brother Duane and band-mate Barry Oakley to tragic accidents at an early age.

Actor William Hurt, who was to portray Allman, has already pulled out of the project and I’m guessing more will follow soon.

So Randall Miller, the ball is in your court now. You’re standing at the crossroads. It’s time to make a decision…..What will it be?