The producer of the hit Bohemian Rhapsody movie is working on a Roy Orbison biopic, tentatively titled You Got It.
Another day, another Hollywood music biopic. Mere weeks after the release of Better Man, the Robbie Williams biopic in which Williams is presented as a CGI monkey, Variety reports that there’s not one but two projects about Roy Orbison in the works.
Orbison’s family has partnered up with Compelling Pictures for a feature film as well as a documentary about the singer’s life.
The film is tentatively titled You Got It, after one of Orbison’s hit songs, and the team behind the camera know a thing or two about making music biopics. The film is being produced by Denis O’Sullivan, who worked on Bohemian Rhapsody, and Jeff Kalligheri, who produced the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
Orbison’s sons, Alex Orbison, Roy Orbison Jr, and Wesley Orbison will executive produce the film through their production company Roy’s Boys.
“The Orbisons are elated to find the perfect partners in Compelling Pictures for the Roy Orbison biopic,” Orbison’s sons said about the project. “Denis and Jeff’s vision for this journey through Roy’s life is incredible.”
There’s no news on casting or who might be directing, but the film will reportedly focus more on Orbison’s romance with his wife Barbara rather than the more traditional touch points of a music biopic.
Orbison’s life was full of tragedy. His first wife Charlotte died in a car crash in 1966, and two years later, his two eldest sons died in a fire. Orbison later married Barbara in 1969. Orbison was known for hits such as ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’, ‘Dream Baby’ and ‘It’s Over’. The singer died in December 1988 of a heart attack at the age of 52.
“Roy Orbison is a singular talent who holds a special place in our hearts,” Compelling Pictures said in a statement, “both as a favourite singer for ourselves and our loved ones, and also as a symbol of the incredible strength and resilience of the human spirit. It’s been an honour getting to know Wesley, Roy Jr, and Alex and their families, and we believe this unique love story between Roy and Barbara – rife with humor, tension, and emotion, all accentuated by these incredible songs – will reach the rafters like one of Roy’s impossible notes.”
We’ll bring you more on the film as we hear it.
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