More than 50 years after his suspicious death, singer Sam Cooke is getting his own biopic.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be an unconventional biographical film that will focus heavily on Cooke's murder.
"My pitch to them was a murder mystery. Who did this? And it's being written in that fashion," filmmaker Romeo Antonio said. Mary Krell-Oishi will write the script.
In order to get complete authorization over the film, which includes access to family documents, Antonio successfully received the approval of Cooke's family members.
"For years, people have been coming at us to do a movie about Sam. But [Antonio] was the first person who sounded like he wanted what we wanted: the truth to come out about my uncle and his death," Eugene Jamison, Cooke's cousin, said.
Antonio tapped Jamison and Cooke's younger brother L.C. to be consultants on the project. He talked to the "Wonderful World" singer's assistant Zelda Samuels and biographer B.G. Rhule to gain knowledge on his life and get ready for the film.
Cooke was killed in 1964 at age 33, the same night he reportedly tried to kidnap someone. He started a physical altercation with Los Angeles motel manager Bertha Franklin and was shot dead. Franklin wasn't charged because the singer's death was a "justifiable homicide," according to Rolling Stone.