The troubled but talented life of singer Marvin Gaye is one of those subjects that filmmakers just can’t stop trying to crack. Among those who have tried are F. Gary Gray and tune-happy pro Cameron Crowe. But now it appears that someone with even more experience bringing musical stories to the screen, Julien Temple, might be the man to make it work.
According to Screen Daily (via The Playlist), Temple is close to getting a biopic of Gaye, working titled either Sexual Healing or Midnight Love (the SD report seems a little unclear on the matter) ready to shoot.
With production support from Banana Films, which has tracked down $8 million to get things moving, Temple’s film also appears to be nearing that most crucial element – the agreement of EMI, which holds the rights to Gaye’s music, including Midnight Love.
The plot will follow the recording of the disc, which came at a time when Gaye was at his lowest: considered long past his prime, he was living in Brussels, struggling with drugs and seen as a liability by record companies. But with the help of Belgian promoter Freddy Cousaert, Gaye took a shot at some new work and launched a comeback.
Temple is the man behind such legendary music docs as** Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten** and Sex Pistols pic The Filth and the Fur****y. There’s no word on who will play Gaye for him, though the likes of Terrence Howard and Rent actor Jesse L Martin have been linked with the role in the past.