While he’s been working as an actor for the past decade, Chadwick Boseman finally hit a triple if not homerun this past spring. Leading the hit “42,” the actor shone as Jackie Robinson, the ballplayer who smashed the color barrier and became a national hero. And now, Boseman is getting ready to take on another icon, none other than the Godfather Of Soul.
First announced last fall, “The Help” director Tate Taylor is gearing up a biopic on James Brown, and now he’s found his leading man in Boseman. Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth (“Fair Game“) penned the script for the Brian Grazer and Mick Jagger produced picture that will track Brown’s rise from a poor Georgia youth to a music sensation, and chart-topping R&B star. Filmmakers have been trying to get a Brown biopic mounted for years with big names circling the role, so Boseman has certainly has a very large sequined jumpsuit to fill. But as he showed in his role as Jackie Robinson, he’s got magnetism to spare, so we’re optimistic he can make the transformation here.
Everything is gearing up for this picture, with the Universal production slated to start this fall in Mississippi. [Variety]