The Playlist has posted an article with several updates on Don Cheadle‘s Untitled Miles Davis Biopic. Let’s get right into it.
First on the list is the fact that the film has received a new writer. Steven Vegelman is the man currently working on the script with Cheadle, who apparently didn’t like the previous writer. Davis‘ son and nephew, Vince Wilburn Jr., states that, “Once is the script is OK’d by the family, then we go into production.”
The film has also received a composer: the legendary jazz musician Herbie Hancock. Hancock seems like an ideal choice, as he was once recruited by Davis himself, leading to a longtime successful relationship, beginning in 1963 when he joined Davis’ “second great quintet.”
This film feels like a very personal one for Cheadle. Not only is it his directorial debut, but he also has a reputation of being an expert jazz saxophonist, and with this film, he wants to create a perfectly accurate biopic. Here’s what he had to say about the project.
“It’s been a long time coming, but we’re working on the script right now. I think it will happen. I love Miles, but you have to take everything he says with a grain of salt. He would tell a long story, and someone would go, ‘That’s amazing. Did that happen?’ He’d reply, ‘I don’t f—ing know. You figure it out.’ He wasn’t interested in what you thought about him. He was like, ‘I’m about the music. Deal with that.’ Capturing the essence of that man is a challenge.”
This is a project that has certainly caught my eye. What do you think of the additions of Herbie Hancock and Steven Vegelman. Do you think Cheadle can pull it off in his first directorial effort?