MUMBAI: Universal Pictures has roped in Boseman to play the iconic character. Boseman was recently seen in 42. The biopic is being director by The Help's Tate Taylor while Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer is producing with Mick Jagger.

The film will be a co-production between Jagged Films, based on a screenplay by Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth. Grazer and Jagger will produce along with Jagger's Victoria Pearman and Imagine's Erica Huggins.

The story is about a young boy who rises from extreme poverty and violence to be The Godfather of Soul, one of the most influential and successful black artists in History.