While doing press for “Iron Man 2,” Don Cheadle has taken to discussing his long gestating biopic of jazz icon, Miles Davis, which he is set both direct and star in.
The actor has been kicking around the idea of a Davis biopic since 2007 and is currently working on the script with an unnamed writer. Much of what still has to go on the page though is already in Cheadle’s head.
“The story is really not… a biopic per se,” Cheadle told MTV.”It’s not attempting to be any cradle-to-grave depiction of [Miles’] life. It’s more my take, as an artist, on what his music has meant. With wall-to-wall truth but not really much concerned about facts.”
It definitely sounds like an off-beat story with the actor having previously described the film’s opening with “the first line in our movie, with him in the dark, is of him saying ‘Some of this shit might have happened.'” So perhaps this will be more like Todd Haynes’ loose Bob Dylan biopic “I’m Not There”?
Cheadle also added that he has managed to gain the cooperation of Sony and Columbia for all rights to Davis’ music and — despite having the ability to play the music himself being an accomplished musician — will likely utilize original Davis recordings. “I don’t think I want to try to play if I can use Miles’ playing,” Cheadle adds. “But for the authenticity of it and for the reality of it and for me understanding the instrument, it’s great that I have that facility.”
The project seemingly has the support and backing of all the right people (music studios, the Davis estate) and is topped off with the addition of former Miles Davis Quintet member and fellow jazz icon Herbie Hancock, who will score the film. When it’s ready, we’d expect Cheadle to get the go ahead for his “deconstructed biopic” but that is probably still a ways away — the actor concluded that he’ll soon be going into “the bunker” to focus on the biopic after being freed of all “Iron Man 2” commitments.