If you don’t know him by now, Teddy Pendergrass is a legendary singer and now Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to produce a biopic on the R&B artist’s storied life.
According to The Wrap, Tyrese Gibson, actor and popular R&B singer in his own right, has been cast as Teddy Pendergrass. Lee Daniels (Empire and The Butler) is attached to produce the film and Little Marvin, creator of Amazon’s upcoming series Them, has been tapped to pen the screenplay.
Teddy’s widow, Joan Pendergrass, is coming aboard the project as an executive producer.
In a statement regarding his casting, Tyrese Gibson said:
“I am honored to take this journey. This is the role that I feel I was born to play. Teddy Pendergrass embraced me and before he passed put the responsibility on my shoulders to tell his story. Being here in this time and in this space and moment with Lee Daniels, Donald De Line, Little Marvin and Warner Bros. is an answered prayer. Teddy, I just hope we make you, your wife and family proud… Here we go.”
The announcement comes off the heels of the major success of Bohemian Rhapsody, which told the life story of Queen front man Freddie Mercury and took in an impressive $860.9 million worldwide in addition to scoring four Academy Awards, including Best Lead Actor for Rami Malek, who portrayed Mercury in the film.
Bohemian Rhapsody seems to mark a new cinematic trend of musical biopics. Iconic pop rocker Elton John also has a biopic on the horizon. Rocketman stars Kingsman: The Secret Service‘s Taron Egerton as Elton John and hits theaters May 31st. Before then, Netflix’s The Dirt, which tells the story of hair metal rockers Motley Crue, drops on the streaming service March 22nd.
What do you think of this news? Is Tyrese Gibson a good match for Teddy Pendergrass? Are you enjoying the current age of musical biopics? Let me know in the comments below how you feel!
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