Here’s another movie via Deadline that’ll make the rounds at the Berlinale‘s EFM: “Unforgettable,” a biopic about singer Nat King Cole directed by Colman Domingo. Lionsgate will launch the project’s international sales at the festival next week.
What’s most interesting here is what this means for what was supposed to be Domingo’s feature directorial debut, “Scandalous.” That film, about a secret affair between Sammy Davis Jr. and Kim Novak, has David Jonsson and Sydney Sweeney in the starring roles, and was first announced back in October 2024. Is that project now kaput? That’s unclear, but with “Unforgettable” getting the fast-track at Lionsgate, Domingo may wait to put “Scandalous” plans on hold for a bit.
But back to “Unforgettable.” Domingo will star as the iconic jazz singer Cole, charting his journey as a musician, civil rights activist, host of the first nationally broadcast television show hosted by a Black American, and a troubled Hollywood career. Domingo also pens the biopic’s script with Vernon Scott, and produces alongside Cassian Elwes, Charles D. King, William Rosenfeld, Poppy Hanks, Jimmy Edwards, Veronica Radaelli, and Fred Berger. So, expect something in the same vein as 2023’s “Ruskin,” another recent biopic starring Domingo.
“Unforgettable” will be a passion project for the actor (soon to be multi-hyphenate), who’s wanted to make it for a long time. It’ll be Domingo’s second project based around Cole after “Lights Out: Nat ‘King’ Cole,” a play he co-wrote with Patricia McGregor, which follows the singer as he preps for the 1957 Christmas special of “The Nat King Cole Show.” Domingo plans to shoot “Unforgettable” later this year, likely after he finishes press work for his upcoming films like “Michael,” another Lionsgate biopic (that one for Michael Jackson), and Steven Spielberg‘s “Disclosure Day.” The actor also has “Euphoria” S3 on the way at HBO this spring.
