Lenny Kravitz to play Marvin Gaye in biopic

The Evening Standard reports that Lenny Kravitz has been set to play the music icon Marvin Gaye on screen in the biopic tentatively titled Midnight Love. The project will be directed by Julian Temple who is known for his documentary “London: The Modern Babylon” and “Absolute Beginners”. Along with documentaries, Temple has brought music to the screen many times before with his number of movies abut the Sex Pistols.

The Marvin Gaye film will center on the soul singer’s later years where he battled with alcoholism and tax issues while living in London and focus on the making of his album Midnight Love. Though his situation improved once he left the city, he was fatally shot by his father in Los Angeles in March 1984 after they argued about misplaced business documents.

There has been several talks about the making of a Marvin Gaye film, but Julien Temple’s seemed to be the most likely to be completed. The Temple production was given a greenlight in 2011 and financed for $8 million. Principal photography was scheduled to beging in Belgium late last year, but didn’t happen. Janis Gaye, the late singer, is said to be “very skeptical about attempts to bring Marvin Gaye’s story to screen.” She fears Temples film will focus solely on the singer’s drug abuse and negative aspects of his life.

Kravitz, known for music, has taken several acting roles among the years including playing Cinna in the film “Hunger Games”. This will be Kravitz first leading role. He has taken up his album “Negrophilia”, which he began years ago.

Shanika Simmons