Kenneth Branagh to direct untitled 'Bee Gees' biopic for Paramount: Reports

Formed in 1958, the Bee Gees were a popular music group featuring brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. Paramount Pictures is developing a biopic movie on the trio. Now, it is widely reported that they have tapped in actor-director Kenneth Branagh to helm the project.

Kenneth Branagh to direct Bee Gees movie for Paramount

Kenneth Branagh has signed on to direct the untitled Bee Gees biopic film, as per the Deadline. The project got set up in a massive rights package in late 2019 by Graham King at GK, producer of Bohemian Rhapsody. It became the first film venture for Sister – the company launched by Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider, and Jane Featherstone. Amblin rapidly boarded as a producer and will finance 25% of the movie.

Barry Gibb is very involved in the narrative film and will serve as executive producer. He has participated in the touching HBO documentary How Can You Mend a Broken Heart directed by Frank Marshall. It was about the Gibb siblings. The current draft of the screenplay is penned by Ben Elton. His scripting credits include All Is True, the 2018 movie which Kenneth Branagh directed and starred as William Shakespeare.

Paramount got life-rights to the Gibb family estate, and the rights to use their classic songs in a movie in a deal made in 2019. The film could follow the style of the Best Picture-nominated blockbuster Bohemian Rhapsody. The songs by the trio are well crafted and have been acclaimed by the listeners.

The Bee Gees had worldwide sales of more than 220 million records, making them one of the biggest-selling groups of all time. Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibbs first started performing together in the late 1950s with folk and soft rock. Their popularity boosted after they wrote tracks for Saturday Night Fever that also fueled the fame of disco and led to one of the top-selling albums ever, earning the trio five Grammys including Album of the Year.

Maurice Gibb passed away in January 2003 at the age of 53, and the remaining brothers retired the group’s name after 45 years of career. They re-formed in 2009, but three years later Robin died at the age of 62. It left only Barry Gibb to spread the band’s legacy.

Kenneth Branagh has earned praises for his performances and direction. He has helmed movies like Henry V, Hamlet, As You Like It, Thor, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Cinderella, Murder on the Orient Express, Artemis Fowl, and others. His upcoming directorial work is the multi-starrer Death on the Nile and British drama film, Belfast.