Golden, the movie musical based on the childhood of Pharrell Williams, has been scrapped in post-production.
Originally titled Atlantis, the project was to be directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), with a theatrical release from Universal Pictures reportedly pegged for May 5. Its long list of stars included Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Janelle Monáe, Missy Elliott, Quinta Brunson, Anderson .Paak and Jaboukie Young-White.
Back in November, Williams offered the first and only glimpse of the film in an interview with Empire, where he distinguished the film from Piece by Piece, the LEGO biopic of his life, directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville and complete with cameos from Daft Punk, Gwen Stefani, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and more.
“’Piece By Piece’ is about my life, whereas ‘Golden’ is about a neighborhood that I grew up in. It’s a musical expedition set in the summer of 1977 in Virginia Beach,” Williams said.
“It’s a coming-of-age story about self-discovery and pursuing your dreams, but it’s so much more magical than that. It’s a celebration of Black life, Black culture, and most importantly, Black joy.”
Universal reportedly financed the creative effort as part of their longstanding partnership with Williams, who composed and performed in the Despicable Me franchise, and will now swallow roughly $20 million in costs already spent on production (per Variety).
Various sources have told the publication the film was shut down following a unanimous agreement from producers and Gondry that the film did not live up to expectations, and the studio will not release the project or shop it to other buyers.
“When all of us got into the editing room we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned,” Williams and Gondry told Variety in a joint statement yesterday (February 7).
“We appreciate all the hard work of the talented cast and crew. While we’re disappointed we can’t deliver this film, we have incredible partners at Universal and will collaborate in a different capacity again soon.”
In an interview with NME last year, the ‘Happy’ singer explained how working on Piece by Piece was an “amazing experience of history”.
He also praised Morgan Neville for executing his vision, saying: “I can’t tell you how humbled I am to have this masterful storyteller really make sense of my life. It has always been all over the place and made sense to me but not to most. He was able to do it in colour, vividly – brick by brick, piece by piece.”
A number of festival screenings of the film were interrupted by animal rights campaigners, in protests connected to the singer’s role as the men’s creative director of fashion house Louis Vuitton. Representatives from PETA called on Williams to stop being “complicit in cruelty”, in reference to Louis Vuitton’s use of animal skins and furs.
The post Movie musical based on Pharrell Williams’ childhood scrapped in post-production appeared first on NME.
