PEOPLE

James Brown biopic upcoming

James Brown performing in 2005.

LOS ANGELES — Chadwick Boseman, who played Jackie Robinson in 42, will portray James Brown in an untitled biopic of the soul singer.

The Help director Tate Taylor will helm the Universal Pictures movie from a script by Fair Game writers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. Brian Grazer will produce, as will another backer who knows a thing or two about stage presence — Mick Jagger, under his Jagged Films banner.

The long-gestating project, which has been in the works since before Brown died in 2006, will chart the singer’s ascent from poverty in Augusta, Ga., to his place as the Godfather of Soul, tirelessly performing such hit songs as “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” and “I Got You (I Feel Good).”