According to a new report, Universal is looking make an original musical featuring Prince’s music, with Ryan Coogler as producer.
According to Hollywood scooper Jeff Sneider, Universal is looking to go in an interesting direction with its catalogue of Prince songs. Given the current trend for music biopics (A take on Bob Marley”s life in cinemas right now, a take on Amy Winehouse’s life called Back To Black is coming shortly after) the studio is instead opting to go in a different direction when it comes to putting together a film project to use the music by Prince that it owns.
The report states that the studio is keen to develop a film that is inspired by Prince’s music rather than going down the straightforward biopic path. It continues that the musical legend’s estate feels that Prince’s 1984 film, Purple Rain (which starred the artist) already covered his life story, which seems to have pushed Universal into going in another direction.
Instead, it looks like we’ll be getting a jukebox musical in the form of Mamma Mia! or Greatest Days which were of course films that used the music of Abba and Take That respectively to tell original stories. Bryan Edward Hill, the writer of the teen superhero show Titans, has reportedly drafted the script, and Ryan Coogler will produce the project alongside his wife, Zinzi.
No director has yet been named, but given that Coogler is working on what is believed to be a period vampire movie with Michael B Jordan, we’re guessing he’ll be too busy. That is said to be shooting imminently in New Orleans, so the filmmaker may have his hands full for a while. That project’s release date was recently announced as March 2025, so given that he’ll also be working on this project, Coogler is going to be busy over the next 12 months.
Still, given how Prince’s music is revered by fans, it’s reassuring to hear the musical icon’s beloved works are in the hands of a talent like Coogler. The big question that follows is who will direct the film – and when we hear more about that, we’ll let you know. Given Prince’s penchant for visual style, his fans will likely be expecting a filmmaker who can handle the aesthetic side of the craft with some serious flair. We’ll let you know more as we hear it.
