Nick Jonas to play Paul Stanley in upcoming KISS biopic 'Shout It Out Loud'

KISS are known primarily for their theatrical style, including their famed makeup-clad faces and "personas." In fact, KISS was largely unsuccessful until they leaned into being style over substance and became iconic for their live performances and massive concerts. KISS was hugely successful, there's no doubt about that, but it was all about the concert experience, and their first big album was a live recording.

Stanley was the Starchild, if you're trying to place him, and played rhythm guitar and contributed vocals. He's also, along with Gene Simmons, the only one who was in the band for its entire run. They were buddies who managed to continue to work together even as others came and went. This film, it should be noted, is focused on the bands early days in the 1970s, so it will be Simmons, Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss aka the only lineup anybody really cares about.

Jonas rose to fame young as a member of The Jonas Brothers, but he's done plenty of solo work. He's also done a fair amount of acting, with his role in the "Jumanji" movies probably where most have seen him. He's okay in those, but his work in the TV show "Kingdom" gets better reviews.

There's reason to believe Jonas can handle the role of a musician, and the report hat-tipped below says he intends to handle his own vocals. That's not just about singing, but about singing like Stanley. "Shout It Out Loud" is being directed by McG, who first rose to success in the music world as a producer and director. His film career is a mixed bag, with more misses than hits. The first "Charlie's Angels" is fun, "The Babysitter" is low-key pretty fun if a smidge stupid, and "We Are Marshall" is an entirely-adequate sports movie. There's also the worst "Terminator" movie, "Salvation," and the atrocious romantic comedy "This Means War."

The rest of the band still needs to be filled out, but the expectation is that a star will be cast as Simmons. That is not surprising, especially presuming Simmons is heavily involved in this project and is going to throw his weight around in terms of matters related to rights. There are, as far as we can tell, two things Simmons loves: Himself and making money.

(h/t Deadline)