Midas Man, a biopic film on music manager Brian Epstein adds the former Tonight Show host and comedian Jay Leno to play another famous TV personality, Ed Sullivan. Midas Man follows Epstein’s meteoric rise to prominence at the age of 25 by discovering a slew of musicians such as Cilla Black, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and of course, The Beatles. He died in 1967 when he was only 32 from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills with alcohol.
The script was written by Jonathan Wakeham which was based on a story by Brigit Grant.
The biopic stars Emily Watson, Eddie Marsan, Omari Douglas, Rosie Day, and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, who will star as Epstein.
Swedish film director Jonas Åkerlund was originally on board to direct, but it was revealed last week that Midas Man is back in pre-production following an indefinite break as producers looked for a new director. The director behind Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, starring Lindsay Lohan, Sara Sugarman, recently joined as director.
The Ed Sullivan Show, which aired on CBS from 1948 until 1971, was the longest-running variety show in American broadcast history.
The most unforgettable and iconic moments in television history was on The Ed Sullivan Show. Those moments include Elvis Presley’s legendary “from the waist-up only” and the American broadcast debut of The Beatles.
Filming began in Liverpool last month but was put on hold for three weeks due to looking for a new director. Resuming production is hoped to start again at the end of November in Liverpool and then shift to the U.S. early next year.