Welcome

Welcome to Grand Theft Parsons’ official movie website.

Grand Theft Parsons stars Johnny Knoxville, Christina Applegate and Robert Forster. Having screened to great acclaim at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and a successful release in cinemas, the film is now available on DVD in North America and the UK and Ireland.

For more information, click here.

The film is based on a true story about friendship; the kind of friendship that saw one man break the law, jeopardise his freedom and race hundreds of miles, to see to it that in death his friend’s wishes were honoured. It’s inspired by the true story that marked the end of the life of cult musician Gram Parsons, and will hopefully go some way to bringing the legacy of Parsons’ music to a whole new generation.

The film centres around Phil Kaufman (played by Johnny Knoxville in his first dramatic leading role), road manager to Gram Parsons, who stole his friend’s body and drove it to Joshua Tree National Park. Remaining faithful to a pact they had made two months previously, he gave Parsons the last rites he’d requested – a cremation in the desert he’d loved.

The film was shot in the lightning-quick time of 24 days using authentic locations in California. The production was granted permission to film in LAX where the body was actually stolen, as well as the Joshua Tree National Park where the cremation took place. In the movie, Knoxville wears the road manager’s actual denim jacket he had worn when committing the bodysnatching, and Knoxville rides the road manager’s actual Harley trike.

Grand Theft Parsons features a blistering soundtrack that includes Bruce Springsteen, Starsailor, Primal Scream and of course, the duets between Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. The soundtrack album is now available on Cube Soundtracks. Check out the trailer, the director’s photo diary, exclusive film clips, and an exclusive interview with Johnny Knoxville. You’ll also find exclusive behind the scenes footage of the coffin burning scene that almost turned the desert into an inferno.