Spike Lee plans film on 'Godfather of Soul' James Brown

LOS ANGELES: Maverick director Spike Lee has signed a deal to make a film charting the life of 'Godfather of Soul' James Brown, who died earlier this week, it was reported on Wednesday. 

Lee, famed for his racially themed movies such as "Malcolm X", "Do the Right Thing" and "Jungle Fever", will team up with legendary Hollywood producer Brian Grazer for the biopic, movie trade journal Variety reported.   

Brown, who died Monday aged 73, had been actively involved in the project, co-operating with screenwriters as they prepared a draft script for the movie, the daily said.   

Grazer told Variety he had been stunned by Brown's death -- but was not surprised that he passed away on Christmas Day.   

"Like everybody, I was surprised and saddened that James Brown died," Grazer said. "Having known him well, and after spending lots of time with him and researching his life, it's somehow not surprising that he died on Christmas Day. He was the ultimate showman, all the way to the end."   

As well as the James Brown project, Lee is collaborating with Grazer on a drama based around the devastating 1992 Los Angeles riots.   

Lee has recently directed a critically acclaimed documentary on the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.