Dream-casting Elvis, Madonna and Aretha Franklin biopics
Hollywood has classic-rock fever, after last year’s hit Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” and two new films — Taron Egerton’s Elton John biopic “Rocketman” and romantic comedy “Yesterday,” which imagines a world without The Beatles — in theaters.
There are more where those came from. We look at five movies in development now and dream-cast who we’d like to star.
Elvis Presley
“Moulin Rouge!’ director Baz Luhrmann is bringing his visual panache to the story of the hip-swiveling icon with a film centered on the relationship between Presley and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). According to The Hollywood Reporter, five actors are being considered to play the King: Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Austin Butler and former One Direction singer Harry Styles, who made his acting debut in 2017’s “Dunkirk.” Teller bears the most striking physical resemblance to Presley, but we’d be more interested to see what Styles could do with the role.
Madonna
The Material Girl has said she’d like to direct her own biopic, expressing distaste for a movie about her life that’s in development titled “Blond Ambition.” Written by first-time screenwriter Elyse Hollander, the film follows a young Madge in 1980s New York as she struggles to make her first album and be taken seriously as a female artist — a role that could be inhabited by model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne, who shares the singer’s glamour and attitude and who showed off her musical chops in the punk-rock drama “Her Smell.”
Boy George
When asked last month about who should play him in an upcoming film about his life by writer-director Sacha Gervasi (“My Dinner With Herve”), the Culture Club frontman suggested “Game of Thrones” actress Sophie Turner. “(People will say) ‘she can’t play you, she’s a woman,’ but when I was 17, I would have loved to have been her,’ “George said on an Australian radio show. Turner responded on Twitter that she would be “SO down,” and looking at photos of her and a young George side by side, frankly, so are we.
Aretha Franklin
Before her death last year, the Queen of Soul hand-selected singer Jennifer Hudson, an Oscar winner for “Dreamgirls,” to play her in a biopic about Franklin’s life. The film, titled “Respect,” will be directed by Liesl Tommy (“Insecure”) and written by Callie Khouri (“Thelma & Louise”) and is expected for release next summer. Given Hudson’s powerhouse pipes and connection to Franklin — she delivered a stirring “Amazing Grace” at her funeral — we can’t imagine anyone else in the role.
Carole King
Jukebox musical “Beautiful,” which tells King’s life story, opened on Broadway in 2014 and was scooped up by producer Tom Hanks for a forthcoming movie. No casting has been announced, although we could easily see Ari Graynor (“For a Good Time, Call …”) or Zoe Kazan (“The Big Sick”).