Matthew Knowles is ready for his King Richard-esque turn in the spotlight.
According to Deadline, the creator/manager of Destiny’s Child and father to superstars Beyoncé and Solange Knowles has sold his Music World Entertainment Group to APX Capital Group. Knowles will join the company as a board member; his former company will marge with APX’s television and film division, and the cherry on top of the deal is that one of the first projects after the merger will be a biopic about Knowles himself, titled The Matthew Knowles Story.
The film will follow Knowles' journey of managing Beyoncé and Solange's careers, including the group Destiny's Child and Solange's solo career.
Clearly, Knowles has been inspired by the success of King Richard, the biopic spearheaded by tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams about their father and former coach/manager Richard Williams. The film stars Will Smith as the title character, a role that has been a success for him on the awards circuit. Smith is now looking towards the Best Actor category at the Oscars, an elusive category for him over the years.
As far as The Matthew Knowles Story is concerned, the deal includes APX owning 10,000 hours of footage from the Knowles family, including never-before-seen images, music, and video. Knowles will also develop, produce, and finance projects including films, documentaries and scripted series. Knowles will serve as executive producer with APX’s Yona Wiesenthal, Augusto Pellicia, and Noam Baram.
Baram said in a statement:
“Matthew’s unparalleled career in the industry is shaped by his expertise in organizational culture, ethical leadership and activism. We’re tremendously honored to partner with him to bring attention to his personal accounts and the important cultural subjects that define our shared experience.” Baram added that Knowles’ stories “will encourage us all to tlook at our history, respect each other’s perpsectives and learn to co-exist in a diverse world that’s united by human values.”
Wiesenthal also said in a statement how APX is “beyond thrilled to reach this groundbreaking agreement with Matthew and his team to develop impactful content told through the voice of one of the most successful and insightful entrepreneurs in entetainment today.”
With King Richard setting the stage for more films humanizing Black fathers, it will be interesting to see what Knowles adds to the movement through his projects.
