Leonardo DiCaprio to Play Music Pioneer Sam Phillips in New Biopic

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Oct 21, 2016

On the heels of announcing plans to make Captain Planet movie, Leonardo DiCaprio is now set to play pioneering music producer Sam Phillips in a forthcoming biopic.

As Deadline reports, Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights to Peter Guralnick's book Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'N' Roll and has charged DiCaprio's Appian Way production company with developing the film.

The biopic will be produced by DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson, Mick Jagger, Victoria Pearman, Steve Bing, Ian Montone, Rick Yorn and Guralnick. A writer and filmmaker have yet to be named to the project.

Phillips is recognized for helping to kickstart the careers of stars such as Elvis Presley, Ike Turner, Howlin' Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins from his now-iconic Memphis-based Sun Studio in the 1950s. 

Exclaim! interviewed Guralnick about his book back in 2015, and you can revisit that interview here.

Stay tuned for more information on the film as it becomes available.

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