Last month we reported that Forest Whitaker was still putting the pieces in place for his gestating Louis Armstrong biopic, “Satchmo.” Back then, the actor was reticent to talk too much about the film, saying that the film was still at the “budgeting stages.”
Well, speaking with Empire, the actor/director seems to have those issues cleared up as he has revealed, “We’ll start shooting in April next year hopefully. I met with my producers in Paris two days ago and was worried because my budget was so high [but] they assured me it was ok.” In order to cover Armstrong’s epic life within the timeframe of a feature length film, Whitaker will have a “couple of people performing the character” including himself.
With still a year to go before the film gets in front of cameras, casting is obviously not yet in place. But with financing now coming into place, we wouldn’t be surprised if Whitaker hits Cannes to try and raise more funding by getting international rights locked, while meeting with actors to try and get casting lined up.
