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MARLEY BIOPIC WITH NO MARLEY MUSIC?: Family refuses to license library to Weinstein project, even though Marley's widow is exec producer.
*The upcoming Bob Marley biopic from the Weinstein Co. hit a snag last week when his family refused to license any of his music for the film, even though his widow, Rita Marley, is its executive producer.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the problem is rooted in a competing Martin Scorsese documentary being produced by the Marley family-owned Tuff Gong Pictures and Steven Bing's Shangri La production banner, the first theatrical documentary to license Marley songs.
The family members involved in the Scorsese documentary say they had no idea that the Weinstein project would be unveiled so soon. They also believe that its projected late-2009 release date would interfere with their film's February 2010 opening, which is timed to coincide with Marley's birthday.
"Martin Scorsese doesn't want to go out with a competing project, and Steven Bing has made deals with companies" that are now compromised, Blue Mountain Music president Chris Blackwell said. "The Weinstein project has put the documentary into jeopardy." Blue Mountain Music is Marley's music publisher.
"All our efforts and support are currently directed toward the documentary," said the reggae legend's son, Ziggy Marley, who is executive producer of the untitled Scorsese film. "We believe that this project is the best way to represent our father's life from his perspective, and any other film project pertaining to our father will be empty without his music to support it."
"When I sold the film rights to my book (for the Weinstein film)," Rita Marley told The Reporter, "the contract did not include any rights to use my husband's music."
The Marley family's lawyer, Terri Dipalo, denied the latest move was a negotiating ploy to compel the Weinsteins to buy Marley music rights or to up the price for those rights. She did suggest that "anything's possible" when asked if Marley's songs might end up in the Weinstein feature.
Music publisher Blackwell would like to see the Weinstein biopic delayed until at least 2015 to avoid the two projects colliding. He said he talked with Harvey Weinstein on March 13 about the issue, but so far nothing has been resolved.
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