Ryan Coogler Producing Jukebox Musical Based on Prince Songs

Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is set to produce a jukebox musical based on the music of the iconic artist Prince. According to the report from The InSneider. the currently unnamed project will be for Universal, which acquired the rights to a number of songs in Prince's catalog back in 2018 with the goal of developing a film inspired by his music. The film will have a script from screenwriter Bryan Edward Hill and will see Coogler and partners at Proximity Media, Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler produce along with Universal Music Publishing Group chair Jody Gerson. Proximity's Rebecca Cho will serve as executive producer, as will Troy Carter of Atom Factory, who serves as the entertainment advisor of Prince's estate.

Prince is an iconic entertainment figure with numerous hits, including "When Doves Cry," Let's Go Crazy," Kiss", and even the song "Batdance" which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1989 film Batman. Prince also has a handful of film credits, including 1984's Purple Rain which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. That film won the Academy Award for best original song score at the 57th Academy Awards.

What is a Jukebox Musical?

A jukebox musical is form of stage musical or musical film which features a majority of songs that are well-known, popular songs rather than original music created for the show. Some jukebox musicals use a variety of songs and music from different artists while others stick to the work of one artist and can often function as a sort of biographical musical in some cases. However, in the case of the Prince project, the report indicates that the story will be fictional as Prince's estate sees the 1984 film Purple Rain as having covered the artist's story.

Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan's Vampire Movie Gets a Release Date

Earlier this week, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that the "Untitled Ryan Coogler Event Film" starring Michael B. Jordan will open in theaters on March 7, 2025. Coogler is serving as both writer and director on the film, producing alongside Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian. Two-time Oscar winning composer Ludwig Göransson, who has scored all four of Coogler's previous films, will executive produce the new movie alongside Rebecca Cho and Will Greenfield. Little is known about the new film, though there have been some reports that it is a vampire film set to filming New Orleans with some reports suggesting that it will be set in the Jim Crow-era South. Production is reported to begin in April. There have, at this time, been no additional announcements in terms of cast or crew regarding the film.

The unnamed film will be Coogler's fifth feature film, each of which has involved Jordan and Göransson, films that include 2015's Creed, 2018's Black Panther, and 2021's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with Göransson winning his first Oscar for his work on Black Panther.

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