Dr. Dre is reportedly in the early stages of getting a Marvin Gaye biopic off the ground, as per Variety. Sources report that rights to use Gaye’s music have been secured.
The music mogul’s film credits include 2015’s Straight Outta Compton, where he served as an executive producer, alongside Ice Cube.
F. Gary Gray, Cameron Crowe, Scott Rudin, and Lenny Kravitz all have tried to bring the singer’s story to the big screen but until now, no one had been authorized by the estate.
For you youngings who are unfamiliar with the Soul legend, Marvin Gaye, he’s responsible for hits like “What’s Going On,” “Sexual Healing,” and “Let’s Get It On.” He became one of Motown’s most successful artists before he was fatally shot by his father following a dispute in their Los Angeles home. He was only 44.
The most recent project to get greenlit by Gaye’s family was a limited series by Jamie Foxx in 2016. But there has been no word about it since.
Ironically, Dr. Dre is represented by the same legal firm that represented Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams against the Gaye estate in the “Blurred Lines” trial in 2015. The verdict was in favor of Gaye’s family, contending that the 2015 hit single infringed Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up” and ordered Thicke and Williams to pay millions in statutory damages.
