People sure do love CBGB now that it doesn’t exist anymore, don’t they? Not only is a CBGB music festival coming to New York in July, but there’s also a movie called CBGB in the works, which focuses on its famous proprietor, the late Hilly Kristal, and the venue’s halcyon days in the ’70s. Over the past week or so, casting announcements have been trickling out, and they’re pretty intriguing. We didn’t quite picture Alan Rickman as Kristal, for example, but we’ve got faith that the man who brought us Snape will make a good effort at embodying the downtown icon. And it appears to be a stroke of genius to cast his Harry Potter colleague Rupert Grint as the Dead Boys’ fire-haired shit-starter Cheetah Chrome. But Malin Akerman as Debbie Harry? See the legends side-by-side with the actors who have been cast to play them after the jump, and let us know whether you think CBGB is getting it right.
Hilly Kristal = Alan Rickman
Joey Ramone = Joel David Moore
Debbie Harry = Malin Akerman
Cheetah Chrome = Rupert Grint
Johnny Ramone = Julian Acosta