Dre teams up with the director who made the TV series about his partnership with Jimmy Iovine to create one of a kind film about the greatest artists of the 20th century.
Director Allen Hughes revealed that Motown and Marvin Gaye’s estate is on board, and with the help of Warner Brothers, creators will be able to use all of Gaye’s signature songs — something that until now was an unachievable but essential condition to produce the film worthy of its central character.
In his interview to Deadline, Allen Hughes explained how important it was to have Dr. Dre involved in negotiations:
You’ve heard of all these big-name directors that have tried for 35 years to consolidate these rights. This started with Dre, saying, ‘Let’s do this together,’ and then Jimmy [Iovine] came on, and Andrew Lazar, and we worked with the estate, with Motown and some other things that needed to be tied down, and we got it done.
On top of his negotiation skills, Dre used his expertise as a sound producer to help the director incorporate Gaye’s voice into the narrative:
Marvin’s voice is so singular that 90% of it has to be the real guy, but hopefully we can find an actor who can tie it up with ligamental scenes, and live stuff where you do a blend. But mostly I want to honor that singular voice, and I don’t want to mimic it. But there are techniques I’ve been exploring audio-wise in live performance and recording in the studio. I’ve taken all those multi-tracks apart with Dr. Dre and it has revealed a lot, but we don’t want to play any tricks with what is probably the purest voice of all time.
Warner Bros approved over $80 million for the project, making it the biggest budget in history for an African American music biopic. The film release is set for 2023 in theatres as well as on HBO Max.
