The modern obsession with the 1980s and the love of biopics, and particularly biopics about musicians, collides in this latest project from TriStar Pictures. As revealed byDeadline,the next music icon getting the biopic treatment is ’80s iconBoy George. The announcement reveals that J.C. Lee is set to write the screenplay for TriStar Pictures project. Lee is best known for co-writing the 2019 dramaLuce, the film adaptation of the Lee’s own play.
On television, he has credits which include ABC’sHow To Get Away With Murder,Apple’sThe Morning Show,and HBO’sLookingandGirls.He also has extensive experience intheater, and has recently worked onTo My Girls, Relevance, and Warplay.His next project (aside from the Boy George biopic) is Hulu’sBad Geniusadaptation, releasing this fall.
The biopic is set to be produced by Academy Award-winning producer, Cathy Schulman, whose previous credits includeCrash, Dark Places, The Edge of Seventeen, TheWoman King, andmost recently Amazon’sThe Idea of You. Boy George’s manager, Paul Kemsley, Jeremy M. Rosen and Kevin King Templeton are also set to produce, with Primary Wave Music serving as well. George himself will serve as an executive producer.
Best Biopics Ever Made, Ranked
The silver screen is a faithful servant to good biographical films, as the genre is undisputedly the darling of both the Academy Awards and Hollywood.
Based on George’s biographies, “Take It Like A Man,” “Straight,“and “Karma,“the movie will focus on George’s success in Culture Club and his own solo music. George rose to fame as lead singer of the iconic band, Culture Club in the ’80s, achieving several UK Top 10 singles and U.S. Top 10 singles. He has sold over 100 million singles, over 50 million albums, and has won numerous Grammy Awards over his 40-year career. A global icon, Boy George’s career spans music, TV, and he most recently headlinedMoulin Rouge! The Musicalon Broadway.He has won , and is known as a cultural icon whose work and persona has inspired many around the world.
However, Boy George is not without controversy, with the musician being convicted in 2007 of the assault and false imprisonment of Audun Carlsen. He also suffered with heroin addiction for years, with Culture Club ultimately disbanding due to Boy George’s personal struggles, a wrongful death lawsuit, and a secret romance. All of which make the storyprime for a big screen biopic.
There Are Plenty More Music Biopics on the Cinematic Horizon
Musical biopics have seen a resurgence over the last few years. Most recently,Back to Blackwhich follows Amy Winehouse’s career, andOne Love, which explores Bob Marley’s rise to becoming the most popular reggae musician in the world, andElvis,which saw huge success and launched Austin Butler onto the A-list and won him a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. One of the most successful biopicsin recent years wasBohemian Rhapsody.Released in 2019 to critical acclaim, the film follows the career of Freddie Mercury and the rise of Queen, with Rami Malek winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Upcoming biopics includeTimothée Chalamet’sA Complete Unknown,where he will star as Bob Dylan, and which is set to release on Christmas day of this year. Angelina Jolie will portray Maria Callas' in her biopicMaria,expected to release this year. And Lionsgate is also set to releasethe upcoming Michael Jackson biopic,Michael, starring his nephew Jafaar Jackson, with a release date of 2025.
Other planned musical biopics include Sam Mendes' four separate Beatles movies, and Selena Gomez starring as Linda Ronstadt, as well as movies centered onthe lives of Britney Spears, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen,Nat King Cole, and Fred Astaire.
