UPDATE: Perhaps given pause for thought by Empire's own list of his upcoming projects in this very piece, Gosling has withdrawn from both directing and acting in The Idolmaker. But the film remains one of MGM's high priorities for a remake...
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Ryan Gosling certainly isn’t hurting for work at the moment – all the big superhero films have tried to tempt him with starring roles without success and he has several films lined up. But now he’s decided that he also wants to direct,jumping at the chance to remake Taylor Hackford’s 1980 pic The Idolmaker.
And not only will Gosling sit in the director’s chair, but he’ll need to keep hopping out of it to run round the other side of the camera, since the actor will also be starring as real-life rock promoter/star maker Bob Marcucci.
Who he? Robert Phillip "Bob" Marcucci worked his way up to becoming a personal manager, first at Chancellor Records, then his own Robert P. Marcucci Productions, where he discovered and shepherded the career of such musicians as ‘50s/’60s teen idol Fabian and fellow warbling heartthrob Frankie Avalon. Marcucci later went on to become an occasional movie producer, and died in March of this year.
There’s no word on when Gosling will get to work on the film – as mentioned, his schedule is fairly full right now, with Warner Bros.’ Gangster Squad and the planned new version of **Logan’s Run **that his Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn wants to make.