Biopic
Bob Marley Biopic Casts Kingsley Ben-Adir in Lead Role
Kingsley Ben-Adir is set to play Bob Marley in an upcoming biopic about the reggae legend. Reinaldo Marcus Green, who recently helmed the Oscar-nominated tennis drama King Richard, will direct the Marley biopic for Paramount Pictures. He’s also co-writing the script with King Richard scribe Zach Baylin, with the consultation of Bob’s eldest son Ziggy Marley, who serves as a producer on the film. Speaking to Collider, Green said the film will begin in 1977 following the assassination attempt on Marley’s life. The reggae pioneer subsequently left Jamaica for London, where he recorded his now-classic album Exodus with The Wailers. Related Video Green also confirmed that the film has rights to use Marley’s music. Ben-Adir, who hails from London, previously played Malcolm X in the 2020 film One...
Authorized Michael Jackson Biopic in the Works from Bohemian Rhapsody Producer
A new Michael Jackson biopic is in the works at Lionsgate, but don’t hold your breath for a Leaving Neverland–type exposé. Produced by Graham King, the man behind the white-washed Freddie Mercury film Bohemian Rhapsody, Michael is made with the blessing of Jackson’s family, and shouldn’t be expected to take down much more than the box office. Michael is written by John Logan, known for such films as Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator and Hugo and Sam Mendes’ Skyfall. John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of Jackson’s estate, will produce the film alongside King, who told Deadline he’s known the Jackson family for several decades. “I first met the Jackson family in 1981 and I’m humbled to bring their legacy to the big screen,” King said. “Sitting at Dodger Stadium w...
Geoffrey Rush to Play Groucho Marx in New Film Raised Eyebrows
Geoffrey Rush is set to play Groucho Marx in an upcoming film adaptation of Steve Stoliar’s memoir Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho’s House, Variety reports. Written and directed by Oren Moverman, Raised Eyebrows is set between 1973 and 1977 and depicts the final years of Marx’s life through the eyes of Stoliar (Charlie Plummer), a lifelong Marx brothers fan who was hired to be the comedian’s live-in personal secretary and archivist. Sienna Miller costars as Erin Fleming, Marx’s mercurial manager who picked Stoliar for the job. Stoliar worked on the Raised Eyebrows’ script with Moverman, who previously co-wrote the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy. Moverman is also set to produce the film alongside alongside Cold Iron Pictures CEO Miranda Bailey. Advertiseme...
Biopic About The Who’s Keith Moon Set to Shoot This Summer
A biopic about The Who drummer Keith Moon is set to shoot this summer. The long-gestating project is tentatively titled The Real Me, after the Quadrophenia song. The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are on board as executive producers for the film, which focuses on the turbulent life of the band’s late drummer. According to Variety, Paul Whittington (The Crown, White House Farm) is set to direct, with a script by British screenwriter Jeff Pope. Los Angeles-based White Horse Pictures is handling the production, having previously helmed music films such as George Harrison: Living in the Material World and Ron Howard’s Beatles documentary Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years. Related Video The casting process is currently underway, with shooting set to begin this summer. It’s still unde...
Roger Taylor: Sacha Baron Cohen Would Have Been “Utter Shit” as Freddie Mercury
It seems nearly impossible that anyone could accurately portray an artist as legendary as Freddie Mercury, but according to Roger Taylor, Sacha Baron Cohen was a particularly bad fit for the job. In a recent interview with Classic Rock magazine, the Queen drummer said the comedian would have been “utter shit” had he wound up portraying Mercury in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. “I think he would have been utter shit. Sacha is pushy, if nothing else,” Taylor said. “He’s also six inches too tall. But I watched his last five films and came to the conclusion he’s not a very good actor.” “I might be wrong there,” he backtracked. “I thought he was an utterly brilliant subversive comedian, that’s what he’s great at. Anyway, I think Rami did a brilliant job in an almost impossible role.” Related Vid...
Jay Leno Cast as Ed Sullivan in Brian Epstein Biopic Midas Man
For the first time since the ’90s, Jay Leno will appear on the big screen playing someone other than himself. This particular casting choice is pretty meta, as the former Tonight Show host has been tapped to play another much-celebrated TV personality, Ed Sullivan, in Midas Man, a forthcoming biopic about Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Midas Man, which documents Epstein’s role in the career of The Beatles and the shape of pop music that followed, is currently in production. Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, known for his recent role in The Queen’s Gambit, will play Epstein. Leno is likely to make an impactful appearance in the film, considering the band’s February 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show marks one of the most important moments (if not the most important) in bringing ...
David Bowie Film Coming from Director Brett Morgen
Brett Morgen, director of immersive, collage-like documentaries including Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck and Jane, is working on a movie about David Bowie based on thousands of hours of unseen concert footage of the late musician. While a lot of information about the project remains under wraps (no titles or release dates yet), Variety quotes a source who describes the film as “neither documentary nor biography, but an immersive cinematic experience.” This makes sense, given Morgen’s history: his Cobain film utilized home footage and animations of the musician’s own art, which proved much more compelling than the talking heads featured. Plus, Bowie’s widow, the model Iman, has long rejected authorization requests for a traditional biopic. “It’s always a no. We always ask each ...
All In Together Now: The RZA Confirms An Ol’ Dirty Bastard Biopic Is In The Works
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: David Corio / Getty All signs are pointing to the Wu-Tang Clan cinematic universe expanding. The RZA has announced that he is working on an Ol’ Dirty Bastard biopic. As spotted on HipHopDX, the most outrageous member of the Staten Island collective might get his posthumous moment on the big screen. In a recent interview with Mic Magazine RZA discussed Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men and Wu-Tang: An American Saga while dropping a quiet bombshell. Related Stories “The documentary was to capture the story as best we can in the reality of it, and then the TV series was to dramatize it. The third tier of the plan, which I’m in progress of, is an ODB movie biopic. Like the five-year Wu-Tang plan, this was a five-year media plan that I concocted, I medit...
Leonardo DiCaprio to Star in Jim Jones Movie
Leonardo DiCaprio is in final negotiations to star in and produce MGM’s upcoming feature on Jonestown cult leader Jim Jones. The appropriately titled Jim Jones biopic is penned by Scott Rosenberg (Venom) and will be produced by DiCaprio alongside Jennifer Davisson for their Appian Way production company. Rosenberg will also serve as executive producer (via Deadline). Jones was the founder of the People’s Temple. What initially began in 1955 as a religious organization built on principals of Christianity and socialism eventually devolved into a fanatical religious cult. After becoming disillusioned with Christianity and the US government, in 1974 Jones migrated the group to Guanya, where they constructed a jungle commune known as Jonestown. Jones, who by then had publicly declared hims...
New Amy Winehouse Biopic Will Explore Last Years of Her Life
Before Amy Winehouse tragically passed away age of 27, she released the good album Frank and the great album Back to Black, in the process leaving an indelible mark on the fashion and sounds of modern culture. Via The Hollywood Reporter, her life will be the subject of a new biopic from Halcyon Studios, to be based on Daphne Barak’s 2010 book Saving Amy. Barak recorded 40 hours worth of footage of Winehouse in the three years preceding her death in 2011 — a period that saw Winehouse get booed off some of the world’s largest stages, as her drug use and alcohol addiction slowly destroyed her life. In her reporting, Daphne Barak managed to chronicle parts of that slow slide towards oblivion. But as a chronicler of the stars, she is a somewhat infamous figure. “Barak i...
Yasiin Bey Will Not Portray Jazz Great Thelonious Monk In Biopic Despite Reports
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Dominique Charriau / Getty Yasiin Bey was the subject of several reports stating that he would be portraying Jazz legend Thelonius Monk in an upcoming biopic but now, the Brooklyn rapper and actor isn’t attached to the project any longer. According to Bey, he was given the impression that the production company was on board with the film but apparently, he was given improper information. A press release went out earlier this week from Jupiter Rising Film, a production company headed by Peter Lord Moreland and Alberto Marzan, which would begin filming Thelonious in the summer of 2022. In the release, Bey was noted as the main star of the film as Monday. However, a report from Pitchfork notes that T.S. Monk, Thelonious Monk’s son and the chairman and co-fou...
Wiz Khalifa to Play Funk Legend George Clinton in Upcoming Biopic Spinning Gold
Wiz Khalifa has been cast as funk legend George Clinton in Spinning Gold, an upcoming biopic about Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart. As Deadline reports, the film will focus on the rise of Bogart’s labels, Casablanca and Buddah Records, throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s. In the latter decade, Casablanca put out records by the iconic psych-soul collective Parliament, which Clinton fronted. The Spinning Gold cast will also feature Jeremy Jordan as Bogart, Tayla Parx as Donna Summer, Ledisi as Gladys Knight, and Lyndsy Fonseca as music manager Joyce Biawitz. Other supporting actors include Jason Derulo, Jay Pharaoh, Jason Isaacs, Peyton List, and Alex Gaskarth. A film like this requires a top-tier soundtrack, and this is already shaping up to be a good one. The Spinning Gold cast will r...
