Culture Club’s Boy George Biopic In The Works

Following the success of Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, Culture Club frontman Boy George is the latest superstar headed to the big screen.

MGM will produce a feature film based on the life of Boy George with Sacha Gervasi (My Dinner with Herve, Anvil: The Story of Anvil), set to write and direct, Deadline reports.

The untitled film centres around George’s early beginnings in an Irish a working-class family and his meteoric rise to fame as the frontman for the 80s pop force Culture Club. A talented singer-songwriter and androgynous pop sensation, Boy George was truly a singular force in pop music.

“There is no filmmaker better suited than Sacha Gervasi to tell George’s confessional story with the irreverence and emotion it deserves,” said Jonathan Glickman, MGM’s Motion Picture Group President. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with both of them to bring this remarkably honest and wildly entertaining tale to audiences around the world.”

In a press statement, Gervasi described Boy George as “a trailblazer and a true original”. He continued, “In the London clubs of the 80s, George was impossible to miss, and everyone knew he would be a star long before the world had ever heard a note of Culture Club’s iconic songs. As you can imagine, George’s life story is wickedly entertaining, yet also poignant and inspiring. I’m both honoured and excited to be the one to guide it onto the big screen.”

Gervasi is no stranger to musical films, having won the Film Independent Spirit Awards and the International Documentary Association prize for his critically-acclaimed rock documentary, Anvil: The Story of Anvil.

The biopic will be produced by Kevin King Templeton (Creed I & II) and Paul Kemsley, with George and Jessica de Rothschild signed on as executive producers. MGM also has another planned biopic in the works, when Aretha Franklin tapped Jennifer Hudson to star as the Queen Of Soul before she passed away last year.

After Bohemian Rhapsody set records at the box office, raking in more than $900 million and earning Rami Malek an Oscar win, it’s clear we’re in the golden age of music biopics. With the Elton John biopic Rocketman headed to theatres this Friday, the hunger for music-driven biopics is ever-growing.

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Format: UK English