Marvin Gaye Biopic In the Works From Allen Hughes and Dr. Dre
A biopic on the life and times of Marvin Gaye is in the works at Warner Bros. Directed by Allen Hughes, the movie is penned by poet and playwright Marcus Gardley. Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine, and Andrew Lazar will produce the film, as reported by Deadline.
The most exciting part of this news? The movie deal includes the singer's estate and Motown, so Hughes has acquired rights to all of Gaye’s most popular songs. This was the final hurtle that barred several filmmakers from moving forward with their visions. And as we learned from the confusingly Ziggy Stardust-less David Bowie pic Stardust, gaining those music rights is essential to making an impactful film.
“This is so personal for me,” said Hughes in a statement to Deadline. “When I made my first film with my brother, we were fortunate to get ‘What’s Going On’ into the trailer for Menace 2 Society, and it was a game changer in elevating the marketing of that film. Every film of mine but the period film From Hell had some Marvin Gaye in it, and I’ve just always connected to him.” Hughes' passion for Gaye and his music is evident, as he continued to describe him as “the artist’s artist” and akin to Mozart.
The director also acknowledged how a Marvin Gaye biopic is something that has been oft attempted in the past, to no success. “You’ve heard of all these big-name directors that have tried for 35 years to consolidate these rights,” Hughes explained. “This started with Dre, saying, ‘Let’s do this together,’ and then Jimmy came on, and Andrew Lazar, and we worked with the estate, with Motown and some other things that needed to be tied down, and we got it done."