Gene Simmons Family Jewels

In case you haven't heard, Gene Simmons, co-founder of rock band Kiss and star of the reality series Gene Simmons Family Jewels, will be appearing in Toshio Li's live-action film adaptation of Kiminori Wakasugi's Detroit Metal City manga.  Quite fittingly, Simmons plays the "Demon God of Rock and Roll," which coincidentally rings a bell to his real-life onstage persona nickname, “The Demon.”

For those who are not familiar, Detroit Metal City is about a death metal band that has gained immense popularity in the indie scene.  The main character, Negichi Souchi, is a push-over who is trying to make a living in the music world, despite that fact that he never envisioned himself to be in such a band.  Moreover, the rock parody manga has also served as the inspiration behind Simmons' band's signature white-and-black face corpse paint look, as well as the hit song "Detroit Rock City."

“I was thrilled to be asked to play the Demon God of Rock and Roll.  Shooting was from dawn till late at night.  The shoot took place right after the New Zealand Kiss show.  I got to sleep at 2am and got up 4:30am to catch the 7am flight to Tokyo.  [It was] hectic.  Once there, I not only had to shoot the Japanese movie.  Our Gene Simmons Family Jewels TV crew were also there to record some of the fun and games,” Simmons said.

Detroit Metal City will be released in theaters only in Japan this coming August, but fans can still catch a sneak peek of the film when the reality series Gene Simmons Family Jewels airs some of the behind-the-scenes footage in a future episode.

Meanwhile, fans can catch a new episode of Family Jewels every Tuesday at 10:30/9:30c on A&E.  On tonight's installment, Gene is unable to remain a silent partner when he agrees to help fund Shannon Tweed's new Nail Salon business.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: A&E, GeneSimmons.com
(Image courtesy of GeneSimmons.com)