Lionel Richie Jukebox Musical In The Works At Disney
Musician biopics have been all the rage in recent years. The Queen-centric Bohemian Rhapsody and the Elton John magical-realist musical Rocketman both did huge box office numbers and won armfuls of awards. The life stories of Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, Celine Dion, Boy George, Leonard Bernstein, and the Bee Gees are supposedly coming to the big screen sometime soon.
Now Lionel Richie is getting a movie too, but not necessarily a biopic. As a judge on ABC’s American Idol revival, Richie is part of the extended Disney family, so it makes some kind of sense that Walt Disney Studios is developing an original movie musical based on Richie’s songs, in the style of the Abba jukebox musical Mamma Mia. As Variety reports, it’s tentatively titled All Night Long, named for Richie’s 1983 hit that will be featured in Variety reports”>our Number Ones column within the next few months. (We’ve already posted articles on his Diana Ross duet “Endless Love” and his Commodores hits “Still” and “Three Times A Lady” if you want to brush up on some tunes that might feature in the film; look out for “Truly,” “Hello,” and the Oscar-winning “Say You, Say Me” in the future as well.)
Richie reportedly sold the pitch to Disney in January. He and his manager Bruce Eskowitz are producing it alongside Cavalry Media executives Dana Brunetti and Matt Del Piano. Screenwriter Pete Chiarelli (Crazy Rich Asians, The Proposal) is currently at work on the script.