Don Cheadle Wants to Make a Miles Davis Biopic

Don Cheadle Wants to Make a Miles Davis Biopic

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Joe Oliveto

For a while there, it seemed like every legendary musician in popular music history was bound to get the biopic treatment--we wouldn’t be all that surprised if some studio executives got it in their less-than-trustworthy heads to produce “My Way: The Fred Durst Story” (starring Christian Bale, perhaps?).

It looks as though the trend has died out a little bit, but that’s not stopping Don Cheadle from pushing for a Miles Davis film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cheadle, who is a fan of the artist and would portray him in the movie, worked hard with screenwriter Steven Baigelman to put together a script that does justice to the man’s life and work. Now all they need is funding.

Speaking about the project, Cheadle said, “Now is a good time, 10 years ago would have been a good time, and 10 years from now it will still be a good time to see a dynamic, entertaining movie that’s wall-to-wall Miles Davis, where the music will hopefully spark some desire to know more about the man.”

Cheadle obviously has a passion for the material, but the question remains whether a major studio will match his enthusiasm. Biopics aren’t as hot as they were a couple years ago, and while Miles Davis is unquestionably a musical icon, he doesn’t appeal to the major movie-going demographic the way, say, John Lennon would.

Still, we’ve already got news that a movie about the band Queen, focusing heavily on lead singer Freddie Mercury, is in the works, so maybe some producer will see that there’s still potential in these kinds of movies.

Cheadle wants to spread the life and music of Miles Davis to as many fans as possible, and we’re all hoping he gets that opportunity.