Rapper Missy Elliot joined the cast for Universal Studio’s upcoming Pharell Williams musical biopic. This project will mark Elliot’s return to the silver screen since her cover of “Car Wash” for Dreamworks’ Shark Tale.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry will lead this project from a screenplay by Martin Hynes (Toy Story 4) and Steven Levenson (Tick, Tick…Boom). Set in Virginia Beach during the summer of 1977, Williams’ childhood in Atlantis Apartments inspired the film’s production.
Elliot will join the cast alongside stars like Halle Berry, Brian Tyree Henry, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, whose casting will serve as a return to her musical roots. Additionally, Williams and Mimi Valdes will help produce the feature through their company i am OTHER alongside Gil Netter Productions.
This upcoming project isn’t the only semi-biographical film focusing on Pharrell Williams. Coming this October, Focus Features’ Piece by Piece tells Williams’ story “in a way that would set audience’s imaginations free.” Documentarian Morgan Neville directed the feature, and set out to fulfill Williams’ vision of an unconventional biopic that “defies genres and expectations” while “transport[ing] audiences into a Lego world where anything is possible.”
There is no word as to when the Universal project will begin production, but fans of Williams’ music will certainly have much to look forward to in the future.
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