There are also two films in pre -production on the life of Marvin Gaye. James Gandolfini is set to star in Sexual Healing, playing a charming Belgium club owner who helps a drug-addled Marvin Gaye make a huge comeback with the album Midnight Loving. Marvin Gaye will be played by Jesse L. Martin, best known for his work on Law & Order and Rent. Gaye's come-back was cut short when he moves back to the USA overcome with paranoia and depression and is shot dead by his father.
F. Gary Gray, The Italian Job director, is also taking on Tony Soprano in a battle to portray tragic soul man Marvin Gaye on the big screen. Gary signed on to direct the biopic Marvin, which will go head to head with actor James Gandolfini's Sexual Healing. Music mogul David Foster will produce the film, which will feature a soundtrack of Gaye originals. Both Sexual Healing and Marvin have been projects in the work for some time and both have been held up by music rights.
Hollywood announced the development of two new bio-pics based on the life of the 60s British pop star, the late Dusty Springfield. Universal is gathering their sources for its biopic, starring The West Wing’s Kristin Chenoweth. Nicole Kidman has also signed-on with Fox 2000 for a similar Dusty Springfield project. Kidman will produce and star in the film. Madonna also flirted with the idea of starring in a Dusty Springfield picture.
The two films will chronicle Dusty's rise to fame, her battle with drink and drugs as well as her bisexual affairs and her history with both the Beatles and The Rolling Stones."
The story of John Lennon is headed for the big screen with "Nowhere Boy," which will focus on the former Beatle's troubled adolescence.
Screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh's script details the story of Lennon as a lonely teenager abandoned by his mother and raised by his authoritarian aunt.
John Lennon at 17
Photo taken in 1958
His only escape is music, art and his fateful friendship with Paul McCartney. The film will be directed by visual artist Sam Taylor-Wood, who will shoot on location in Lennon's hometown of Liverpool.
"The women in John's early life truly shaped who he became," Taylor-Wood said, "and the strengths and weaknesses of their relationships are central to this film." Casting for the major roles "is under way," said producer Ecosse Films, which is developing the project with the U.K. Film Council.
Foster has reportedly secured a package of Gaye's biggest hits, while Gandolfini and his co-producers have secured the rights to Gaye's post-Motown tunes for Sexual Healing. Gray tells Daily Variety he can't wait to get started on his labour of love: "This is my passion project, the one that I wake up every day thinking about."
Long before Madonna filled night after night at stadiums around the country, and charity concerts like Live Aid raised money through rock, there was Sid Bernstein. Bernstein, who is now 92, was the original concert promoter— bringing British Invasion bands, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, to America (he was the guy who set up the Beatles famous concert at Shea Stadium and their concert at Carnegie Hall). He also helped black musicians like Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and James Brown crossover into mainstream America. Now a documentary, Sid Bernstein Presents… about Sid’s life is being made. On it are loads of famous musician interviews and as co-director Jason Ressler says, “This film explores the history of America through one man’s life.” Sounds cool. If you’re a Beatlemaniac and want to learn more about this amazing man, support the film and the push to get it into theaters by going tosidbernsteinpresents.com.
