MGM has acquired the rights for a feature film musical starring Chance the Rapper.
The rapper, whose real name is Chancellor Bennett, and his manager, Pat Corcoran of Haight Films, are working with Scott Bernstein, one of the Straight Outta Compton producers.
Carlito Rodriguez, a writer for Empire and The Leftovers, will write the screenplay.
Songwriter, producer and frequent Chance collaborator Nico Segal (formerly known as Donnie Trumpet) will oversee the film’s music. Segal and Bennett released the 2015 album Surf as Chance and The Social Experiment.
Here’s the logline of what we know so far: Told through original music from Nico and his collaborators, Hope follows a group of Chicago teenagers that band together to turn art into action within their community.
“From day one, our mission at Haight Films’ has been to apply Haight Brand’s artist-first and Chicago-proud ideology to the film space. We are incredibly excited to be working alongside Chance, MGM and Scott Bernstein to bring this vision to life,” said Corcoran in a statement.
“Chance and Nico are undoubtedly two of the most influential and innovative artists of their generation,” said Jonathan Glickman, president of motion picture group at MGM. “We feel thrilled, privileged and eager to be collaborating with them on such a unique project.”
No word on a potential release date or timetable for production.
Chance the Rapper made his film debut in the horror slasher thriller Slice with Zazie Beetz. It had a limited release in theaters and VOD earlier this year.
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