James Brown Biopic Set to Begin Casting Soon

Producer Brian Grazer (8 Mile, Apollo 13, American Gangster) has secured the rights to James Brown’s music for a movie he’s been trying to make for more than a decade. Mick Jagger is co-producing. “I like to make movies about mastery and genius, and it’s hard to find great subjects,” Grazer says. “On the most visceral level, [Brown] sings and dances, and the performance of that contributes to defining him as the hardest working man in showbiz.” The screenplay’s first draft had 30 performance scenes. The film’s original script, written by British playwrights and brothers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, is being revised, and casting will soon begin.