Kirk Franklin to star in “Church Boy”
Coomingsoon.net is reporting Lionsgate will partner with gospel music artist Kirk Franklin to develop Church Boy, which is a screen version of his inspirational life story. The announcement was made by Lionsgate President of Production Mike Paseornek. Franklin will star in the film and compose its soundtrack, which will include old favorites in addition to several brand-new songs.
Franklin will produce Church Boy along with Paul Hall (Pride, Johnson Family Vacation, Higher Learning), Bobby Smith Jr. (screenwriter, Their Eyes Were Watching God, screenwriter/co-producer Jason’s Lyric), and Emmy Award-winning casting director Robi Reed (casting The Tuskegee Airmen, co-producer Never Die Alone), who will also cast the film. Will Young will co-produce. Lionsgate Music Publishing will work closely with Franklin and his publishers on the newly-created compositions and will co-publish those works.
Said Paseornek, “We are very excited to welcome Kirk Franklin to the Lionsgate family. Kirk is an incredible talent who has touched countless lives through his music and his spiritual message. To hear his story is to realize how faith and dedication can help a person overcome the most daunting obstacles. With Kirk playing himself and bringing in brand-new songs — audiences are sure to be feeling the spirit with Church Boy.
Franklin commented, “Lionsgate is the perfect home for ‘Church Boy.’ This is a studio that has made a strong and genuine commitment to African-American audiences and faith-based audiences. Lionsgate puts everything they have behind their films, and they are endlessly creative and resourceful in reaching the commercial marketplace.”
Church Boy is the rags-to-riches story of Kirk Franklin, abandoned by his teenage mother and raised by a great aunt in Ft. Worth, Texas. A precocious musical talent, Kirk is directing a church choir by age 11. But as he enters his teens in a tough neighborhood mired in poverty and rife with drugs, street violence, and easy sex, Kirk grows rebellious and loses his way. As his life spirals out of control, Kirk undergoes a dramatic conversion… and begins a remarkable journey towards stardom.