Dominic West (“The Crown”), Alexander Dreymon (“The Last Kingdom”), Ludwig Trepte (“Generation War”), Ed Speleers (“You”), David Kross (“The Reader”) and Luke Brandon Field (“Interview With The Vampire”, “Jojo Rabbit”) have been cast in lead roles in the highly anticipated feature film “Wind Of Change”, which recently started production at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in London.

Directed by Alex Ranarivelo and produced by ESX Entertainment for FOX Entertainment Studios in association with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, “Wind Of Change” is a music biopic chronicling the incredible journey of the legendary rock group the SCORPIONS, with the longest-running and most successful line-up of the band including guitarist Rudolf Schenker (Dreymon), Klaus Meine (Trepte), Matthias Jabs (Speleers) and drummer Herman Rarebell (Field). It tells the story of a band united by their passion for music, who sought to inspire change in the world through their powerful sound and meaningful lyrics. At the heart of the film is their iconic anthem “Wind Of Change”, which became the soundtrack to the end of the Cold War, symbolizing hope, peace and unity. Through their music, with hits ranging from “Rock You Like A Hurricane” to “Still Loving You”, the SCORPIONS helped bridge the divide between East and West, leaving an indelible mark on history and proving the transformative power of art. West is set to play Doc McGhee, the SCORPIONS famous music manager and Kross will star as Andrej, the band’s imprisoned friend on the other side of the Berlin wall.

“It’s been an unbelievable journey developing this film and bringing it to life feels surreal” says Ali Afshar, founder and president of ESX Entertainment. “Not only did the SCORPIONS‘ music help me get through tremendous difficulties as an Iranian immigrant in America in the early ’80s, but their message of love, peace and rock ‘n’ roll seems more relevant today than ever. This cast is an amazing ensemble of truly great talent. I can’t thank FOX Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment enough for their support and especially the band — Rudolf, Klaus and Matthias — for believing in us and trusting us to tell their life story.”

The SCORPIONS have built a remarkable legacy as one of the most enduring rock bands of the past fifty years. With 110 million albums sold worldwide, they remain one of Germany’s most successful musical exports. Their breakout hits like “Rock You Like A Hurricane” and “Wind of Change” continue to resonate, the latter surpassing one billion streams across platforms and remaining a cultural touchstone. Even today, their music regularly appears on rock radio and streaming playlists, and they continue to tour globally. Their staying power has earned them a lasting place in rock history.

“Wind Of Change” is produced by ESX Entertainment‘s Ali Afshar, Christina Moore and Daniel Aspromonte for FOX Entertainment Studios in association with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The film is written by Mark Andrews and directed by Alex Ranarivelo. FOX Entertainment Global retains worldwide distribution rights excluding U.S. and global transactional rights, which Warner Bros. Discovery Global Content Sales will manage.

ESX Entertainment is a prolific production company housed on the Warner Bros. lot that has released over two dozen films since 2017. Their gems have been released in theaters, HBO MAX, Netflix and Amazon, with numerous titles becoming number one hits on these platforms.

In a new interview with Talking The Talk With Don, earlier this year,  former SCORPIONS drummer Herman Rarebell, who wrote the lyrics for some of the group’s most classic songs, spoke about a possible reunion with his longtime bandmates. He said: “The last drummer they had was James Kottak. He passed away. I’m very sad about this because he was a good guy. And then I wrote an e-mail to them. I said, ‘Why don’t we do something together again?’ And you know what? I didn’t even get an answer. After 20 years being with those fuckers, not even an answer. I said, ‘Okay, fuck you. Fine.’ Because I can do my own thing — no problem. They can’t. Because the chemistry we had was unique. And if you fuck that up, it’s gonna be hard to replace. And the people out there, the fans, they’re not stupid. They can hear it immediately. They wrote me so many e-mails: ‘What happened?’ I don’t wanna explain all the time. Everybody can do in life what they want. That’s why we have a free will. And so I respect this.

“For me, the band has been over since 1996,” Herman explained. “There was nothing which they released after I left which knocked me out, where I said, ‘Wow, this is amazing.’ Even the last album, Rudolf (Schenker, SCORPIONS guitarist) told me, ‘It’s gonna be like the ‘Blackout’ album.’ I said, ‘It has nothing to do with ‘Blackout’. You should have got Dieter Dierks, (SCORPIONS‘ longtime) producer, back with the band and me writing some lyrics for you. And then we’d have a great album. But otherwise, what is this? Why you do this?’ No answer.”

Asked at which point he felt SCORPIONS were starting to “lose the plot” with their musical direction, Herman said: “Really after (the ballad) ‘Wind Of Change’ (from the 1990 ‘Crazy World’ album), you could see the direction. Klaus (Meine, SCORPIONS singer) obviously was all for it to go in this direction, but in my heart, I’m still a hard rock guy. So for me, I wanted to rock more, not go in ballad land. For me, there was nothing to do anymore from the creativity point. So, I said to myself, ‘Well, you have to do something else.’ And that’s exactly what I did.

“When I look back on it, there’s nothing to regret,” Rarebell added. “Look at the band now. As (former SCORPIONS guitarist) Michael Schenker says in every interview, ‘What have they done after Herman left?’ There’s no more hits. The fans write me many e-mails: ‘Why don’t you do something that you did before on (1980’s) ‘Animal Magnetism’, (1982’s) ‘Blackout’, (1979’s) ‘Lovedrive’ and this kind of albums?, which were pure rock albums. And this is where my heart is, and that’s what I wanted to do.”