Dave Franco will play Vanilla Ice in a new biopic about the rapper’s life.
The 21 Jump Street star told Inside that the film is in the works under the working title To the Extreme, saying: “We have been in development for a while but we are inching closer and closer to pre-production.”
Franco said that he hoped the movie, which is written by Chris Goodwin and Phillip Van, would compare to The Disaster Artist.
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The 2017 comedy saw Franco’s brother, James, portray actor Tommy Wiseau in a reenactment of the making of cult film The Room.
“With that movie, people expected us to make a broad comedy where we make fun of Tommy Wiseau, but the more real we played it, the funnier and heartfelt it was,” Franco said. “That’s the tone we want for this one as well.”
Describing Vanilla Ice as a “sweet and intelligent guy”, Franco continued: “He’s been super helpful in the process of getting all the details correct and making us privy to information the public doesn’t know.
“Just talking to him I can’t help but think about the rabbit holes I’m going to go down to get ready for the role.”
Initial production listings for the film were released in 2019, reading: “From a high school dropout selling cars in Dallas to having the first hip-hop single to top the Billboard charts with ‘Ice Ice Baby,’ a young Vanilla Ice struggles with stardom, extortion attempts, and selling out as he makes music history.”