Rock Star is a 2001 American musical comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Herek from a script by John Stockwell, and starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston. It tells the story of Chris "Izzy" Cole, a tribute band singer who ascends to the position of lead vocalist in his favorite band. The script was inspired by the real-life story of Tim "Ripper" Owens, a singer in a Judas Priest tribute band who was chosen to replace singer Rob Halford when he left the band. After optioning the filming rights to a New York Times profile of Owens by Andrew Revkin, Warner Bros. hired Stockwell to write the script. Brad Pitt was initially signed to play the lead role, but left due to creative differences, and Wahlberg was eventually hired for the part. Rock Star garnered mixed reviews from critics and was a box office flop, grossing $19 million worldwide against a production budget of $57 million. Plot In the mid-1980s, Pittsburgh resident Chris Cole is a fanatical admirer of a heavy metal band called Steel Dragon. By day, Chris is a photocopier technician and by night, he is the lead singer of a Steel Dragon tribute band called Blood Pollution (the name is taken from a Steel Dragon song). Internal struggles among the actual Steel Dragon band members culminate with the firing of their lead singer, Bobby Beers, and the beginning of recruitment sessions to find a new vocalist. Chris experiences his own strife with his Blood Pollution bandmates, particularly guitarist Rob Malcolm. During a show, Rob plays a guitar solo instead of following the note-for-note accuracy to the original Steel Dragon song and, after Chris sabotages Rob's amplifier mid-song, a fight breaks out between the two onstage. The next day, Chris goes to rehearsal but he finds out that he has been replaced by his arch-rival, the erstwhile lead singer of another Steel Dragon tribute band. Rob and Chris argue, and Rob criticizes Chris for preferring to remain the singer in a tribute band rather than create his own music. One day, Chris receives an unexpected phone call from Steel Dragon's founder and rhythm guitarist, Kirk Cuddy, and is offered an audition for the band (thanks to two of Blood Pollution's groupies, who showed Kirk a videotape of one of Blood Pollution's concerts). After hanging up on Kirk once, thinking he's being pranked by Rob, Chris ecstatically agrees. At the