Behind every song there’s a story and, it seems, behind every band and artists there’s a potential biopic. The appetite for films based on the lives of famous musicians hasn’t waned over the past decade, although the emphasis for 2010 seems to be shifting from American idols like Ray Charles and Johnny Cash to homegrown heroes.

Perhaps the highest profile flick of the moment is Sam Taylor Wood’s portrait of a young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy, currently in cinemas. The film, based on a book by Lennon’s half sister, follows the exploits of the young Liverpudlian through a tricky childhood and features an original score by Goldfrapp, who are currently recording their fifth album Head First.

One of the first cinematic releases of the New Year follows the trials and tribulations of one of music’s most idiosyncratic performers: Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll brings the life of Ian Dury to celluloid, with Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis in the lead role. Serkis, who brought Gollum to life in Peter Jackson’s blockbusting trilogy, turns in a transformative role that captures the disabled singer so perfectly that he’s already been nominated for Best Actor for the 2010 British Independent Film Awards.

Baxter Dury, who at six years old appeared alongside his dad on the cover of the classic album ‘New Boots And Panties’, was taken away by the performance. “The film is powerful. It triggers stuff, emotional stuff. When I first saw it, I didn’t sleep for a week. I would dream about the film. I’d see dad as Andy Serkis. It was very strange”

Baxter isn’t the only person close to Dury to celebrate Serkis. Chas Jankel, Dury’s writing partner who’s played in the film by Tom Hughes, was so impressed with Serkis’s eerily uncanny vocal performances during the recording of the film he recently invited the actor to sing with The Blockheads at a London show.

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, which also stars Ray Winstone, Noel Clarke and McKenzie Crook, is out on January 8th. Watch the trailer here.