Warner Bros. has acquired the Marvin Gaye biopic, What’s Going On, and Allen Hughes is on board to direct the film — which is expected to have a budget of more than $80 million — about the legendary soul singer. Hughes also will produce the movie alongside Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and Andrew Lazar.
Hughes told Deadline: “This is so personal for me.
“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.
“He’s the artist’s artist, with this ethereal voice that just comes out of the heavens.
“There have been plenty of great artists, and then Marvin, in his own lane.
“When you listen, in one measure you feel like you’ve read a novel.
“Such a rich inner life in that voice, heavenly but riddled with pain, the agony and ecstasy at the same time.
“When he gained his independence in the ’70s, with that album What’s Going On, then Trouble Man and Let’s Get It On, I Want You and his final masterpiece Here, My Dear, when it comes to vocal orchestrations and the way he layered his voice, he’s Mozart.”
Gaye’s songs will feature in the movie as his estate and Motown are part of the project.
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