Reginald Hudlin (pictured at right), who received a Best Picture nomination for “Django Unchained,” will direct the musical “Beyond the Velvet Rope” with songs by hitmaker Andreas Carlsson.
Ron Bass, who won an Oscar for the “Rain Man” screenplay, is writing the script with Walter Becker (“Wild Hogs”) and G.L. Lambert. Carlsson will produce with Marcus Englefield and George Lee for Storyoscopic Films.
Carlsson’s credits include “Bye, Bye, Bye” for *NSYNC, “I Want It That Way” for the Backstreet boys, “Waking Up in Vegas” for Katy Perry, “Born to Make You Happy” for Britney Spears and “I Am Alive” for Celine Dion. Carlsson has been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards and was also been named ASCAP Songwriter of the Year.
The feature tells the story of a young pop star who falls in love with her prolific songwriter as they make their way through the Los Angeles music scene in the late 1970’s. Together, they make a fairy-tale ascent to the top of the vibrant, yet gritty music industry, wrought with obstacles.
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Hudlin, who directed “House Party” and “Marshall,” is also executive producing with Niklas Bergman, Robyn Klein, Andrew Lerios, and Jeremy Ross. He’s the former President of Entertainment for BET.
“The ability to work closely with a film rooted in music has been on my bucket list and is a genre that started my career,” he said. “The opportunity to blend a well written story with exceptional original songs is a special moment as a director and music lover. The raw reality of ascending and descending and then finding success as an artist of any kind in Hollywood is filled with the kind of emotion that organically allows for great story telling.”
Hudlin is represented by CAA. The deal was negotiated by Weintraub Tobin, Qap Legal and Fox Rothschild.