The mid-2000s saw a surge in the popularity of musical biopics: films such as Ray (2004) which tell the story of a star musician. While academic studies have addressed biopics treating classical and jazz composers, the popular musical biopic (encompassing blues, folk, pop, country, rap, and rock) is not only the least studied subtype of the musical biopic, but the most profitable and frequently made. I analyze four different aspects of the musical biopic that illustrate its significance: Chapter One addresses the musical biopic in the context of the post-studio era entertainment industry. I study A Hard Day's Night as a film which reconciles artistry with the commercial imperative of cross-promotion. Chapter Two surveys the increased presence of minority entertainers in post-studio era musical biopics, covering films featuring African American musicians, as well as films which pair a black mentor with a white musician or producer. Chapter Three examines the relationship between storytelling, particularly the portrayal of love relationships, and song performances. I find in that the post-studio era musical biopic often reconciles narrative structures inherited from the classical Hollywood musical with post-classical film styles. Chapter Four, a psychoanalytic study of the contemporary musical biopic, theorizes the genre's turn to the representation of flawed and scandalous subjects.

Since the introduction of synchronized sound at the end of the 1920s the film musical has had a special place in American film. But even with that special place the interest in the film musical has varied a lot during the 20th century. From the high interest during the  “Golden Age” in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, through low interest in the following decades and then renewed interest in musicals with the animated film musicals from Disney in the 1990s. But what has happened after the millennium? Has there been any development in the American film musical genre or is it just more of the same? This thesis tries to answer the question by analyzing three successful film musicals from the period 2001-2013, Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001), The Phantom of the Opera (Joel Schumacher, 2004), and Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012) and comparing them to classical traditional musicals. According to this thesis there is a split answer, some areas of the classical  American film musical have developed while other areas still remains the same.