Colin Hanks (Fargo), Diane Guerrero (Doom Patrol), and hip-hop sensation Nelly join the already announced Ruairi O’Connor (The Spanish Princess) as Buddy Holly in the Buddy Holly biopic Clear Lake that is directed by Bruce Beresford.
Clear Lake is a story about how Holly and other famous artists of the late 1950s gave rise to rock ‘n’ roll, thus transforming the course of civil rights in America. The 22-year-old Holly died fatally in a plane crash outside Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959, along with Ritchie Valens, J.P. The Big Bopper Richardson, and Roger Peterson.
Hanks will play Norman Petty, Holly’s genius yet also controlling manager and producer. Guerrero will play Holly’s wife, Maria Elena Holly. Nelly, who is currently featured on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, will play Chuck Berry, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
Rick French of Prix Productions and Stuart Benjamin of Stuart Benjamin Productions will collaborate with BMG, which operates the Buddy Holly estate and owns the U.S. publishing rights to his catalog.
On behalf of BMG, David Hirshland and Kathy Rivkin Daum are producing. Maria Elena Holly, Stephan Easley (general counsel to Mrs. Holly and The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation), and Peter Bradley Jr., of the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation, are associate producers.
Patrick Shanahan adapted the original story from Easley and French, wrote the screenplay, and is a co-producer. Shanahan will collaborate with French in Raleigh-based Prix Productions.
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