Biopic
Creed Singer Scott Stapp to Play Frank Sinatra in Ronald Reagan Biopic
Scott Stapp (via “My Sacrifice” video), Frank Sinatra (via Nothing But the Best album cover) We’ve been inundated with some unforeseeable headlines in 2020, and here’s one more before the year ends: Creed singer Scott Stapp is playing Frank Sinatra in an upcoming biopic on Ronald Reagan. Yes, the rock vocalist is portraying the legendary crooner in the movie Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid as the 40th president of the United States. Stapp already filmed the role, telling Billboard, “Sinatra in performance mode was an exercise in restraint. He had this steely, stylish swagger and his sheer presence commanded a room. I was excited to join the cast and blown away by the on-set attention to detail, style, and overall production.” His performance as Sinatra comes during a scene in whi...
Naomi Ackie to Play Whitney Houston in Upcoming Biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody
Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard and Naomi Ackie in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Sony’s upcoming Whitney Houston biopic, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, has finally found its leading star. English actress Naomi Ackie is in “final negotiations” to play the late legendary singer, according to Variety. The 28-year-old Ackie recently earned a BAFTA for her acclaimed performance in the Netflix comedy-drama The End of the F***ing World. She’s also scored major screen time in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the British anthology series Small Axe from Steve McQueen, whom we recently named our Filmmaker of the Year. Together with director Stella Meghie (The Photograph) and screenwriter Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody), Ackie will tell the complex yet inspiring story of Whitney H...
Carrie Brownstein is Making a Heart Biopic
Washington state rockers unite. Carrie Brownstein of the Olympia legends Sleater-Kinney is writing and directing a biopic about the iconic Seattle band, Heart. During a recent interview with SiriusXM’s Lyndsey Parker, Heart frontwoman Ann Wilson revealed that Brownstein — who’s also known for her starring role in the TV series Portlandia — will be telling her band’s story for Amazon alongside producer Lynda Obst (Interstellar, Sleepless In Seattle). “I can’t tell you all about it, because it’s still being written right now,” Wilson said in a clip that was posted to Parker’s Instagram. “I saw the first draft of [Brownstein’s] script, and it’s really cool.” According to Wilson, a few actresses have been considered to play her and her sister Nancy, who sing and perform a few instruments ...
Bowie Biopic Stardust Commits Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide: Review
The Pitch: It’s 1971 and David Bowie (Johnny Flynn) is about to make it big. Well, actually, he already kind of had. He’d just released “Space Oddity”, which would have become legendary even if he’d never released another album. We’d still be hearing it in commercials like we do Rupert Holmes’ “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” regardless, so the “what if?” at the center of the movie isn’t quite as pulse-pounding as writer-director Gabriel Range and his co-scribe Christopher Bell seem to imagine it to be. Anyway, Bowie’s about to be famous, but he’s concerned that the US doesn’t like or get him and that the record label doesn’t know what to do with him. So, they send him to the US to introduce himself, which is about all he can do because his visa doesn’t allow him to play shows. So, he just ...
Leslie Odom Jr. on Playing Sam Cooke for One Night in Miami
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Leslie Odom Jr. jumps on the line with Kyle Meredith to talk about The Christmas Album, his second venture into holiday music. Odom tells us about the challenge of writing original Christmas songs, adding his own mark to classics, covering Sara Bareilles, and re-recording… Please click the link below to read the full article. Leslie Odom Jr. on Playing Sam Cooke for One Night in Miami CoS Staff You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of...
Danai Gurira Will Play Presidential Candidate Shirley Chisholm In Upcoming Film
Source: Universal History Archive / Getty Shirley Chisholm achieved a number of amazing firsts during her lifetime, and now an upcoming film will examine more of the late politician’s exploits. Danai Gurira will play Chisholm in The Fighting Shirley Chisholm, which is not framed as a biopic according to a new report. Variety writes that Gurira, best known as the sword-wielding Michonne of The Walking Dead, will occupy the titular role and the film will take a deeper look at Chisholm’s historic run as the first Black candidate of a major political party to be nominated to run for president and her time on the campaign trail. From Variety: Though Gurira will play Chisholm, the movie is not a biopic, instead focused more centrally on the campaign and how “the Chisholm Trail was po...
Selena Gomez to Portray Gay Mountaineering Icon Silvia Vásquez-Lavado in New Biopic
Last we heard from Selena Gomez, the pop star had just collaborated with K-pop sensations BLACKPINK, as well as purchased Tom Petty’s former California mansion. Gomez has now found her next big project: the 28-year-old has just been cast to star in a new biopic about Silvia Vásquez-Lavado, the first openly gay woman to ascend the highest mountain on each continent, a.k.a. the Seven Summits. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the forthcoming film is titled In the Shadow of the Mountain and based on a forthcoming memoir of the same name by Vásquez-Lavado, who is also credited with being the first Peruvian woman to scale Mt. Everest. Elgin James (Little Birds, FX’s Mayan’s M.C.) has been tapped to write and direct the movie, while Oscar winner Donna Gigliotti (Shakespeare in ...
Disney Is Making a Movie About Giannis Antetokounmpo and is Searching for Lookalike Actors
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s life is like a fairytale story, so it’s no shock that Disney is making a movie about the NBA icon and his brother, Thanasis Antetokounmpo. What does come as a surprise, though, is the fact that they’re looking for everyday people to star as him — no experience necessary. “Disney is making a movie based on my family’s story and they are searching for actors to play me and my brother, Thanasis, in our younger days,” tweeted Antetokounmpo. “No experience necessary! It helps if you resemble the handsome boys pictured below and have some basketball experience. SPREAD THE WORD!” Born in Athens, Greece as the son of Nigerian immigrants, Antetokounmpo fell in love with basketball as a kid, joined a semi-pro local league, and made himself eligible for the NBA draft abroad. C...
Richard Pryor Biopic in the Works from black-ish Creator Kenya Barris
A new biopic about Richard Pryor is in the works at MGM. black-ish creator Kenya Barris is writing and directing the film in collaboration with the legendary comedian’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor. The project was won by MGM after a heated bidding war between various studios. The film will be produced by Barris’ Khalabo Ink Society, Lee Pryor’s Tarnished Angel, and Tory Metzger for Levantine Films. Adam Rosenberg will serve as executive producer. An ensemble crew like that is necessary to do the iconic Pryor justice. The late comic is one of the most beloved stand-up comedians of all time, and he has five Grammy’s, two American Academy of Humor awards, and the first ever Mark Twain Humor Prize award to prove it. Before he died in 2005, he also starred in over 50 movies (includ...
The Wire’s Wendell Pierce to Play B.B. King in New Biopic
Wendell Pierce (photo by Daniel Hambury) and B.B. King (photo courtesy of artist’s website) It must be three o’clock, because Wendell Pierce has the blues. The actor has announced he’ll be playing the late, great B.B. King in a new biopic about the legendary musician. Pierce is known for his roles as Detective Bunk Moreland in The Wire and, more recently, James Greer in Amazon’s Jack Ryan. He announced his casting as King himself, tweeting, “We are official. Preparation has begun on a film where I will be honored to play the great, BB King. Humbled.” In a separate tweet, he added, “I promised BB King before he died, I will honor him and his creative genius. An American Icon.” The project is entitled The Thrill Is On, playing off the name of King’s beloved cover of Roy Hawkins’ “The T...
Zendaya to Star as Ronnie Spector in New Biopic
Zendaya has signed on to star in a new biopic about Ronnie Spector. Deadline reports that A24 has secured the rights to Spector’s memoir, Be My Baby, and is circling Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury to write the film’s script. Originally published in 1990, Be My Baby recounts Spector’s roller-coaster career as lead singer of the Ronettes, her emotionally abusive marriage to the Phil Spector, and her resurgence as a solo singer. Zendaya was apparently handpicked by Spector herself, and A24 leveraged its existing relationship with the actress through Euphoria to close the deal. Both Zendaya and Spector will also serve as producers on the project. Earlier this month, Zendaya made history by becoming the youngest woman to ever win the Emmy for Best Actress – Drama. ...
Madonna Will Direct Her Own Biopic for Universal Pictures
If anyone is going to tell Madonna’s story, it’s going to be the pop music icon herself. Last week, Madonna confirmed that she was writing the screenplay of her own biopic in collaboration with Diablo Cody (Juno). Now, Madge has announced that she will also be directing the film. In a statement to Variety, Madonna said she wanted to be able chronicle her life and career on her own terms. “I want to convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer – a human being, trying to make her way in this world,” she commented. The 62-year-old pop music icon also assured fans that her music would be the driving force of the as-yet-untitled movie. “The focus of this film will always be music,” continued Madonna. “Music has kept me going and art has kept me aliv...
