“House Party” director and “Django Unchained” producer Reginald Hudlin has signed on to direct “Beyond the Velvet Rope,” an upcoming musical based on the music of Grammy winning songwriter Andreas Carlsson.
Carlsson’s credits include some of the most iconic pop songs of the late 1990s and early 2000s, including *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” and Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way.” But “Beyond the Velvet Rope” will take place in the 1970s, following a pop star named Sky who falls in love with her songwriter, Luke. Together, they rise to the top of the industry, as Luke finds the fine line between success and failure and the realization that life can turn on a single song.
“The music for this film is inspired by the core of my upbringing,” Carlsson said in a statement. “As a Swede, I was enamored with American pop-culture and the music of the late 70’s along with the films from the era. I am looking forward to working with Reggie who has fully grasped the musical vision of the film.”
“The ability to work closely with a film rooted in music has been on my bucket list and is a genre that started my career,” said Hudlin. “The opportunity to blend a well written story with exceptional original songs is a special moment as a director and music lover. The raw reality of ascending and descending and then finding success as an artist of any kind in Hollywood is filled with the kind of emotion that organically allows for great story telling.”
Carlsson will produce the film with Marcus Englefield and George Lee for Storyoscopic Films, with Hudlin directing from a screenplay by Ron Bass, Walter Becker and G.L. Lambert. Hudlin is represented by CAA, and the deal was negotiated by Weintraub Tobin, Qap Legal and Fox Rothschild.