Ryan Coogler is working on a jukebox movie musical based on the music of Prince.
The Black Panther director is set to produce the untitled project of the late musical icon’s songs for Universal Pictures, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film, which has been in the works since 2018, has a script by Bryan Edward Hill, who has written for comic books including Kilmonger and Ultimate Black Panther.
Proximity Media’s Coogler, Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian are producing the project, with the company’s Rebecca Cho serving as an executive producer. Universal Music Publishing Group chair Jody Gerson will also produce, THR reports.
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Further details about the movie — including the title, director and actors — were not available at press time.
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Coogler is currently working on an untitled Warner Bros. film starring Michael B. Jordan that is scheduled for release in March 2025. It will mark the director’s first movie since Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022. Coogler and Jordan previously worked together on 2013’s Fruitvale Station, 2015’s Creed and 2018’s Black Panther.
In January, it was announced that Prince’s Purple Rain film and soundtrack would be adapted into stage musical. The adaptation is set to feature a score by the late Prince, with a book by Pulitzer Prize-finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who is currently enjoying the Broadway run of his acclaimed drama Appropriate.
Jacobs-Jenkins’ book will be based on the original Purple Rain screenplay, which was written by Albert Magnoli (who also directed the original film) and William Blinn. Lileana Blain-Cruz — who picked up a Tony nomination in 2022 for best direction of a play (The Skin of Our Teeth) — is set to direct, with Tony winner Orin Wolf on production duties.