January 3, 2012 17:05

Don Cheadle plans 'gangster' film about Miles Davis

Project is apparently 'a movie he would have wanted to star in'

Don Cheadle has revealed that his planned Miles Davis movie is a "gangster" film rather than a straight biopic.

The actor and producer has had a film about the jazz legend in development for years. And while it is not yet any closer to actually being made, Cheadle has now revealed some details of the story.

He told the Wall Street Journal: "It's not a cradle to grave story… It's not a biopic, per se. It's a gangster pic. It's a movie Miles Davis would have wanted to star in."

In an intriguing teaser, Cheadle added that the film is going for a "cubist" take on Davis' life. He said: "Without throwing away history, we're trying to shuffle it and make it more cubist. The bulk of it takes place in '79, in a period where he wasn't actually playing music. But we traverse a lot of it in his life."

Responding to advancing plans for a rival planned by director George Tillman Jr, he said: "If the world is ready for two Miles Davis movies, fantastic. I don't think anyone's going to be making the kind of movie we're making." He added that the two projects would be covering different periods of the musician's life, and so would be looking to license different music.