Arnel Pineda story soon a Hollywood Biopic

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2018 10:40:22 +0000

 

 

ARNEL Pineda

ARNEL Pineda

THE life story of singer Arnel Pine­da will be a Hollywood film soon.

In an article published on Holly­wood-based news site, Deadline, “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu revealed he is re-teaming with Warner Bros to chronicle the journey of Arnel Pineda, whom he described as an “unlikely hero” and “an undeniable talent,” adding his story is a “true fairy tale and tri­umph of the human spirit.”

“The success of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ has blown my mind and set me on a path to champion more unique inspirational stories that represent new perspectives from all around the world,” Chu said in a statement to Deadline. “This story in particular has been on my mind since I first read about it years ago… the power of music and a worldwide stage (literally) has all the ingredients I love about movies. Plus I have been a fan of Journey’s music since I can remember. I am excited to be bringing the audience along on this incredible story with my partners at Warner Bros who have been a leading champion of diverse voices in front and behind the camera.”

Pineda began singing at a pizza parlor when he was 15.

Several decades later, in 2007, he was discov­ered on YouTube by Journey co-found­er Neal Schon. He report­edly picked Pineda for his abil­ity to rep­licate the powerful vocals of Journey’s most popular vocalist Steve Perry, best known for singing on the band’s biggest hits such as “Don’t Stop Be­lievin’” and “Foolish Heart.”

Perry took the stage with Pineda, Schon and the rest of the band when Journey was inducted in the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017.

Deadline’s Mike Fleming wrote in the article published Dec. 5 that Warner Bros. is negotiating to li­cense the original Journey tunes, most written by Perry and Schon, and the studio has acquired rights to “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey,” a 2012 documentary that chronicled Pineda’s “impossible rise.”

Fleming added that the film comes on the heels of the out-sized success of the Freddie Mercury and Queen film “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a crowd pleasing biopic that has grossed over $540 million and put Rami Malek in the Best Actor con­versation.

According to him, Pineda’s tale is “more astounding and this film will tell his true story, one that has am­bitions to be something like ‘Slum­dog Millionaire.’”

Chu, on the other hand, said his vision is to “make an em­powering movie that follows the real life rock ‘n’ roll fairy tale of a for­merly homeless Filipino singer to overnight rock star.”

Deadline reported Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen will pro­duce, and the search for a writer is underway. The project will be overseen for the studio by Kevin Mc­Cormick.

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