We’ve seen a lot of musicals made out of legendary musicians of late. Recently we’ve had Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman tell us stories of Queen and Elton John respectively. Over the years we’ve seen the likes of Get On Up about James Brown along with other fictional films dedicated to the music of popular bands like Mamma Mia’s tribute to Abba and Across the Universe’s take on the classic music of The Beatles.
It’s only fitting that Hollywood ticks another name off of its list, with Variety reporting that a live-action project around the music of Lionel Richie is in the works through Disney. It’s not clear if the project will be more of a biopic or simply a fictional story based on Richie’s songs, though we do know the project has been tentatively titled All Night Long, from the name of one of the singer’s most popular songs.
Richie is no stranger to the movie world, having won an Oscar back in 1986 for his song “Say You, Say Me” which featured on the film White Nights. However, there have not been any other attempts (that I am aware of) in bringing his own story to the screen. No director has been attached to the project, although Crazy Rich Asians writer Pete Chiarelli is currently penning the script. Richie and his manager Bruce Eskowitz will also be co-producing the movie alongside Dana Brunetti and Matt Del Piano.
Audiences seem to love these big movies built around songs that they already know and love, so this could easily be yet another success story in the genre. I guess we will have to wait and see if this movie is indeed a biopic because if so, it’ll be interesting to see who Disney casts as the legendary performer.
Last Updated: June 12, 2020
