Mick Jagger's James Brown biopic gets a green light after casting its lead

Chadwick Boseman is to star in the forthcoming James Brown biopic that's being produced by Mick Jagger.

The film, which was reported to be in the works last October (2012), has now been given a green light after casting its lead, Variety reports.

The Help's Tate Taylor is on board as director and, according to The Wrap, is hoping to cast three of the stars of his 2011 hit in supporting roles: Viola Davis, Nelsan Ellis and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer.

The film will chart Brown's rise from a young boy born in extreme poverty to become the iconic recording artist known as the "The Godfather Of Soul". Brown's career spanned six decades and he is recognised as one of the most dynamic performers in rock history. Jagger and his Rolling Stones bandmate [a]Keith Richards[/url] will be depicted as characters in the film, as will Little Richard.

Meanwhile, Boseman will soon be seen in another biopic, 42, in which he stars as legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson. The film opens in UK cinemas on September 13 and you can watch the trailer below. Boseman is also known for his appearances in numerous US TV series including Fringe, Persons Unknown and Lincoln Heights.
[www.nme.com]



Tate Taylor, the Mississippi native who directed The Help, said Monday that he’ll make a biographical feature film about James Brown in the state, starting this fall.

“Every frame will be shot in Mississippi. We’re even doing Paris, France, in Mississippi. … Vietnam, as well, in Mississippi,” Taylor said at the Mississippi Coliseum on the state fairgrounds in Jackson, where some scenes will be shot.

Filming will take place in November and December in and near Natchez, a Mississippi River town in the southwestern corner of the state; and in January and February in the capital city of Jackson, said Taylor, who grew up in Jackson and now has a home near Natchez.

Taylor will direct the biopic. His co-producers for the movie are Mick Jagger and Brian Grazer, he said.

“James Brown, really, was the first real dancer that broke the ground of how people move,” Taylor said. “And Mick Jagger has complimented that and tipped his hat to that forever.”

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant joined Taylor in announcing the project and said the state will provide incentives, including rebates of up to 30 percent of the payroll for state residents hired on the project. It’s not yet possible to put a dollar figure on the state incentive package, Bryant said, because the movie is still in the planning stage.

Mississippi lawmakers earlier this year increased the incentives that the state offers to movie makers. The new law, signed by Bryant, says the state could provide rebates of up to $10 million per project for nationally distributed feature films, documentaries and TV shows.

Brown, who died in 2006, was known as “the hardest working man in show business” and as the “Godfather of Soul.” He was born in South Carolina and grew up in Georgia. Taylor said Mississippi provides a similar look because it is “on that same line of latitude.”

The film will begin when Brown was about 5 years old and will extend to about 1993, Taylor said, declining to give details about what parts of Brown’s life will be depicted: “You have to buy a ticket and come see it.”

Brown performed a concert at the Mississippi Coliseum in February 1969, although it was not immediately clear whether that concert will be depicted in the movie. Taylor said the coliseum’s interior will stand in for Boston Gardens, where Brown played a concert and calmed an audience after the Rev. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968; and downtown Jackson will stand in for downtown Cincinnati, home of King Records.

“The Help,” released in 2011, was filmed in several Mississippi locations, including Greenwood and Jackson. Taylor said he wants to develop the film industry in the state.

“I think with all of our hard work, we will soon see great talent rising up from our native soil,” Taylor said.

[entertainment.time.com]

’42? Star Chadwick Boseman to Play James Brown
Variety reports that Universal Pictures has cast Chadwick Boseman ('42) as the iconic James Brown in the upcoming Tate Taylor-helmed biopic.


[variety.com]



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 2014-07-15 00:31 by bv.

Ooh, that's not too far from me, might mosey over if there's anything interesting to be seen. But if they're making the movie "starting this fall," surely it needs to be more than "in the planning stage"?

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Aquamarine
Ooh, that's not too far from me, might mosey over if there's anything interesting to be seen. But if they're making the movie "starting this fall," surely it needs to be more than "in the planning stage"?

I think the reporter spoke with the governor before the project was finally approved by the studio. This happened the other day and they announced the name of the actor who'll play JB just yesterday
 What's more important - if the shooting starts in November and will continue four months then Mick will not have time for any Stones activity this fall

It doesn't say he's going to be in it, though--he wouldn't need to be there as a producer, surely?

Director Tate Taylor says Mick will come to MS during the filming - [www.clarionledger.com]

Wouldn't think he'll be there for the duration of the shoot, though.

Mick doesn't stay anywhere longer than two weeks from what I understand. Can you think of a more inappropriately named actor to play James Brown than Chadwick Boseman? I hope he can sing and dance. Jamie Foxx was an inspired choice for Ray Charles.

It's great that Mick is going ahead with this project. What a great way to honor the Godfather of Soul. Looking forward for the release.

Yes, hopefully it'll be a good one. They'll have to use a magnifying glass if they want the Miss. Coliseum to stand in for the Boston Garden, though!

Hollywood was abuzz recently with the news that Grazer fired Spike Lee (who he has worked with extensively) as director of this firlm and hired the guy who directed The Help, which wasn't exactly the most progressive movie about race, with its white girl saves the darkies theme. It's gonna be soft, people.

HBO’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Drama From Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger & Terence Winter Taps Showrunners

EXCLUSIVE: Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter’s long-gestating rock ‘n’ roll drama for HBO has taken another step to fruition. Feature writer-directors Brian Koppelman and David Levien (Ocean’s Thirteen) have been tapped to showrun the project should it go to series. The two also will do some rewriting on Winter’s pilot script, working with him. The untitled Rock ‘n’ Roll series, which Boardwalk Empire executive producers Scorsese and Winter created with Rolling Stones’ Jagger, has been in the works at HBO since 2010, moving on a slow track because of the auspices’ busy schedules. Winter has been running Boardwalk Empire, which is headed into Season 4; Scorsese has been focused on features; while Jagger has been touring. Things started to pick up earlier this summer when Bobby Cannavale became attached to play the lead, and the project began gearing up for an early 2014 shoot with Scorsese directing the pilot just like he did with the Winter-penned Boardwalk Empire pilot that netted him a directing Emmy. There is no formal green light yet, but hiring showrunners is usually a good sign that things are moving in that direction. The project follows the exploits of Richie (Cannavale), a cocaine-fueled record exec in New York City circa 1977, when punk, disco and a new form of music called hip-hop collided. Richie is a talented A&R guy who is elevated to run a big label, even though he thinks he’s better suited to focusing on day-to-day music matters. Koppelman is bringing nine years of experience as an A&R executive to the project. He worked for Elektra Records, Giant Records, SBK Records and EMI Records and is credited with discovering Tracy Chapman.

Scorsese and Jagger, who worked together on the Rolling Stones documentary Shine A Light, began the rock ‘n’ roll project as a feature after Jagger told Scorsese they ought to make a movie like Casino in the world of the music biz. They set it at Paramount, which is involved in the series. Scorsese, Jagger, Winter, Jagged Films’ Victoria Pearman, Sikelia president Emma Tillinger Koskoff and Rick Yorn are executive producers. In TV, CAA-repped Koppelman and Levien wrote the 2003 ABC drama pilot The Street Lawyer and created and executive produced the ESPN series Tilt. They most recently penned the upcoming Ben Affleck-Justin Timberlake starrer Runner Runner.

[www.deadline.com]

Be interesting if we see their interpratation of the TAMI show in '64.
The Stones closed the show following a fantastic performance by James Brown and The Flames.
Or did James Brown play on first night and Stones on second night ?
Finale saw them all on stage together.

A cameo from the producer would be nice, no?

So glad the Jagged Films/ Imagine biopic of James Brown GET ON UP is going to be shooting this October, starring Chad Boseman.

I'm excited there is going to be so much great music in this film, as well as a dramatic story

@MickJagger

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TDive25
A cameo from the producer would be nice, no?

No doubt 70-year old Mick will reprise his TAMI show performance.

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24FPS
Mick doesn't stay anywhere longer than two weeks from what I understand. Can you think of a more inappropriately named actor to play James Brown than Chadwick Boseman? I hope he can sing and dance. Jamie Foxx was an inspired choice for Ray Charles.

With Mick producing, I can't wait to see who plays Keith.

Mick Jagger turns TV mogul to produce drama based on his and David Bowie's experiences in 70s New York
[www.dailymail.co.uk]


I do not know about Bowie - in my opinion it's just DM speculation.
But what an opportunity to take revenge for Richards' book. Mick can mock him as much as he wants while giving the events from Richards' life to a fictional character. The general public will not know what is all about while KR himself and all the insiders will understand.
Nope, I do not think Mick will do something like that - he does not seem vindictive but rather magnanimous.

Daily Mail is perpetuating the non-story of Jagger and Bowie's purported screenplay by attributing it to a nameless "industry insider".

Apparently that nameless industry insider is unaware that same non-story was dismissed as "piffle" a couple of years ago by someone who did attach their name to it - David Bowie.

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24FPS
Mick doesn't stay anywhere longer than two weeks from what I understand. Can you think of a more inappropriately named actor to play James Brown than Chadwick Boseman? I hope he can sing and dance. Jamie Foxx was an inspired choice for Ray Charles.

OT, but I really don't understand that kind of lifestyle, I really wouldn't like to travel all the time, no matter how rich I was or how comfortably I could travel. I don't understand many celebrities who travel all the time...

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proudmary
Mick Jagger turns TV mogul to produce drama based on his and David Bowie's experiences in 70s New York
[www.dailymail.co.uk]


I do not know about Bowie - in my opinion it's just DM speculation.
But what an opportunity to take revenge for Richards' book. Mick can mock him as much as he wants while giving the events from Richards' life to a fictional character. The general public will not know what is all about while KR himself and all the insiders will understand.
Nope, I do not think Mick will do something like that - he does not seem vindictive but rather magnanimous.

This could be a VERY interesting tv-series considering the kind of people are involved in the project according to the story. There are certainly a lots of potential for a great drama. I don't think KR type of character would be in a very big role but who knows...

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rollingon

This could be a VERY interesting tv-series considering the kind of people are involved in the project according to the story. There are certainly a lots of potential for a great drama. I don't think KR type of character would be in a very big role but who knows...

yep, it could be interesting

Martin Scorsese Project With Mick Jagger Seems Headed To HBO
[www.inquisitr.com]

Director Kevin MacDonald Eyes Elvis Biopic For Fox, Mick Jagger

Last King of Scotland” director Kevin MacDonald is on board to direct the Elvis Presley biopic “Last Train to Memphis” for Fox 2000.

Based on the 1995 Peter Guralnick biography, the film chronicles Presley’s early years and his transformation from a high school kid to an overnight sensation credited with ushering in a radical new era in music.

Mick Jagger and Victoria Pearman will produce through their Jagged Films banner along with Steven Bing, who will produce through his Shangri-La shingle. John Fusco is adapting the script.

The studio along with MacDonald (pictured above) and the producers will now begin searching for the young Presley, starting with a recently-launched website Young Elvis Presley where actors can submit audition tapes singing six to eight bars of any Presley song.

Jagger has been championing musical biopics lately, clearly a natural fit for the seasoned rocker. He’s also producing the untitled James Brown biopic starring Chadwick Boseman. He’s also helping to shepherd a 1970s-set music biz drama at HBO with Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese.

Fox 2000 is also no stranger to biopics on music icons — Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line” scored at the box office and at the Oscars, scoring Reese Witherspoon a best actress win.

The WME-repped MacDonald most recently helmed another musical icon bio, docu “Marley.”
[variety.com]


Kevin MacDonald is this the guy who directed Being Mick?

Just heard this on the radio, saw a couple of news items, could be interesting.

StonesTod is friendly with the Stones camp...just told me he think this is an "unlikely project."

Yeah, I doubt it as well...

He was in Natchez on the set of the film he's producing.

*Apologies if this is here somewhere already*

Freejack 2?

natchez, that´s where the killer grew up

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bluesinc.
natchez, that´s where the killer grew up

No, it was Ferriday. He played at a club in Natchez called The Wagon Wheel in the early 50s.

Jagger is producing films? News to me....

'Zombie Alert! The Return Of Ned Kelly' Staring Sir. Michael Jagger as the Zombie of Ned Kelly and L'Wen Scott as it's impassioned lover.