Paramount Players and Imagine Entertainment have launched development of a biopic on musician Gucci Mane based on his “The Autobiography of Gucci Mane.”
The studio has obtained life rights to Mane, whose real name is Radric Delantic Davis, and movie rights to the book. Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Erica Huggins will produce the project. Mane and Todd Moskowitz will executive produce.
Mane is a pioneer of the hip-hop genre known as trap music. He made his studio album debut in 2005 with “Trap House,” the first of a dozen studio albums, followed by “Hard to Kill.”
The book tells of his childhood in poverty in Alabama and his move to Atlanta, where he became involved in criminal activity. He spent nearly three years in prison starting in 2004 after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. While incarcerated, he began releasing mixtapes from prison with rappers Migos and Young Thug.
Mane appeared on screen in the 2012 drama”Birds of a Feather” and in Harmony Korine’s 2013 feature, “Spring Breakers,” portraying the drug dealer Big Arch opposite James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine.
Paramount Pictures launched Paramount Players in June, with veteran producer and executive Brian Robbins in charge. Robbins is working with Viacom’s Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, and BET operations to generate projects while the new division focuses on contemporary properties. In October, Paramount Players acquired rights and set a Jan. 4, 2019 release date to psychological horror movie “Eli” — its first film to go in to production.
Imagine is a producer on the music industry show, “Empire,’ starring Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.
UTA repped Mane in the deal.