There's been a James Brown biographical film in the works for some time, and with his tragic death the announcement comes that Spike Lee has been signed to direct the film.

Several screenwriters have been writing the script and Brown was an active part of that development as he met with them and gave them access to his life. The deal, according to Variety through Coming Soon, includes access to all his music, so it's fair to expect this could be one of the most comprehensive biographical musical films we've seen.

Okay, so this isn't an interesting idea to me at all. I'm really not a James Brown fan, and I've no real interest in his life, but then I said that about the Johnny Cash film Walk the Line (Filmstalker review), and that got a five out of five. Then there's the added twist of Lee. His recent documentary work has surprised me and I think that he could really bring a strong influence to the film, as long as he doesn't try and push style over substance as he can sometimes do in his features.