The Runaways
Directed by Floria Sigismondi
Starring Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Stella Maeve, Scout Taylor-Compton, Michael Shannon
Rated R
Release date(s) January 24, 2010 (SFF)
March 19, 2010 (limited)
April 9, 2010 (wide)

The Runaways is a film is based on lead singer Cherie Currie’s memoir, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway and it does a pretty good job of showing us what life was like for a teenage Runaway.

For those uninitiated (like myself before seeing the film) The Runaways were a 1970s rock band that broke musical taboos with their all-girl lineup. While I was watching the film I was thinking about how those same taboos, to a large extent, still exist in today’s musical world. In 2006, I remember Beyoncé Knowles making a huge fuss when she introduced her all-female tour band Suga Mama, which includes bassists, drummers, guitarists, horn players, keyboardists and percussionists. I would’ve thought 35 years would be enough time to break down those male barriers in pop/rock music, but I guess not.

In just a few days, the digital download version of the official soundtrack album for The Runaways will be available. Some of the Runaways songs on the album are performed by the film’s stars Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart, with one of the tracks — “Cherry Bomb” — already streaming online [Read: Listen Now: Dakota Fanning Sings “˜Cherry Bomb’ On “˜Runaways’ Soundtrack].

Now, a music video for “Cherry Bomb,” featuring vocals by Fanning and Stewart, has been posted online. Watch the video here below.

I haven’t seen The Runaways yet, but I’ve watched enough previews and seen enough images to deduce that this video is compiled from footage from the film. It looks like a combination of on- and off-stage performances from the film, and for the on-stage clips, the movie band is playing the song.

This week, the news broke that The Runaways, a biopic about the 1970’s all-girl rock band that featured Joan Jett, had been acquired by Apparition Films ahead of its debut at next month’s Sundance Film Festival (Read: “˜The Runaways’ Movie Finds Distribution).

Now, Entertainment Tonight has aired a sneak peek clip of the film, which stars Twilight: New Moon‘s Kristen Stewart (as Jett) and Datoka Fanning (as singer Cherie Currie).

Watch the clip here below.

The Runaways, which will be released in theaters March 19, 2010, is directed by Floria Sigismondi and also stars Scout Taylor-Compton as lead guitarist Lita Ford, Alia Shawkat as Robin (a fictional bassist), and Michael Shannon as Kim Fowley.

The Runaways is a little independent film based on the 1970s rock band of the same name that featured Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, and Lita Ford. The movie stars young up-and-coming actresses Dakota Fanning (I Am Sam, Push) as Currie and Kristen Stewart (Panic Room, The Twilight Saga) as Jett. It will first debut next month at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, but it doesn’t need to worry about being picked up by a studio for distribution anymore; that part of the quest is now taken care of. It’s being reported that Bob Berney and Bill Pohlad‘s Apparition Films has officially acquired the rights to the film, and already has plans to release it on March 19, 2010.

The Runaways is directed by relative newcomer Floria Sigismondi, who based the story on Cherie Currie’s book, Neon Angel: the Cherie Currie Story. The movie also stars Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie’s Halloween and Halloween II) as Lita Ford, Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development, Whip It) as Robin, Michael Shannon (Bug, Revolutionary Road) as Kim Fowley, and Tatum O’Neal (Paper Moon, Rescue Me) as Marie Harmon.