Dreamworks composing GEORGE GERSHWIN biopic
DreamWorks has picked up a screenplay by screen-writer Doug Wright(Town House/Memoirs of a Geisha), about composer George Gershwin. During his career, George wrote more than a dozen Broadway shows with his older brother Ira Gershwin.
Marc Platt(Wanted) is producing alongside singer, pianist and Gershwin expert, Michael Feinstein.
Variety reports the film will span Gershwin's life...
...from his humble beginnings in Brooklyn as the child of Russian immigrants to his early death in Hollywood in 1937 at age 38. George Gershwin's music, which spanned popular and classical genres, continues to be used regularly in commercials, TV and films. His "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris" remain among the most recognizable musical works throughout the world. Gershwin's life story has spawned a number of books as well as the 1945 Warner Bros. pic "Rhapsody in Blue."
Though DreamWorks declined comment, insiders say deal is near complete, and DreamWorks will develop the project in the same vein of the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic(which the studio began work in May after inking a deal with the King estate).
Feinstein is the perfect person to have on board the project. Early in his career, he worked for Ira Gershwin cataloging his collection of phonograph records, spending six years excavating Ira's home, archiving the Gershwins' works. In addition, Feinstein has recorded several albums of Gershwin music over the years.
I love the era that the story would take place in, and Gershwin's music is instantly recognizable to anyone. But I'll hold my interest until I see who ends up being attached to direct.
If all this talk about George has you looking to get your Gershwin on, I've embedded a segment of Fantasia 2000 that features "Rhapsody In Blue."