The R&B group’s members are developing the feature project with Compelling Pictures and Primary Wave.
The R&B group’s members are developing the feature project with Compelling Pictures and Primary Wave.
It’s the beginning of the road for a feature biopic about the R&B group Boyz II Men, who dominated airwaves in the 1990s.
The group has partnered with Compelling Pictures and Primary Wave to develop a movie about the musical act that is composed of members Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman and Wanyá Morris. (Michael McCary left the group in 2003 due to health issues.) Producers have begun talks with potential writers and directors for the film.
Boyz II Men formed in 1985 and became a dominant musical voice in the ’90s thanks to such hits as “Motownphilly,” “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” “End of the Road,” “I’ll Make Love to You” and “On Bended Knee.” They were also featured on the Mariah Carey track “One Sweet Day.”
Producers for the movie include Denis O’Sullivan and Jeff Kalligheri for Compelling; Larry Mestel for Primary Wave; Joe Mulvihill for the Mulvi Group; and Jeremy M. Rosen for Roxwell Films. Group members Stockman, Nathan Morris and Wanyá Morris serve as executive producers alongside Ori Allon, Dennis Casali and Steven Garcia.
“We’ve been waiting to find the right partners who understand our story and are willing to tell it all,” Nathan Morris said in a statement. “Denis and Jeff at Compelling Pictures understood us Day 1.”
The team from Compelling added, “Having grown up as huge fans of Boyz II Men, and having spent the past couple of years getting to know the guys and become friends with them, it’s a tremendous honor to help bring their unique and untold story to the big screen. We’re excited to show the brotherhood and camaraderie, as well as the challenges and strife, humor and heartbreak, that has accompanied the unparalleled success that Nate, Shawn, Wanyá and Mike have worked so hard to achieve.”
Upcoming feature projects from Compelling include The Collaboration, starring Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope.
Music biopics remain a top priority for Hollywood following such recent success stories as Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love. A Complete Unknown, which features Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, hits theaters next month, while there are projects in the works about the Beatles, Madonna, the Bee Gees, Queen Latifah and Sublime, to name a few.
Variety was first to report about the Boyz II Men project.