Posted by chicagomedia.org on August 27, 2009 at 15:13:38:
'Soul Train' to dance onto the silver screen
26-Aug-2009
Written by: Sari N. Kent
The renowned RandB, soul and hip-hop dance television show, "Soul Train," hosted by the ultra-suave Don Cornelius, is being brought to the silver screen by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. is taking the classic music-themed television series, "Soul Train," from the small screen to the big screen and has employed Malcolm Spellman to write the feature.
According to an article on Variety.com, "Darryl Porter and Aaron Geller of Porter/Geller Prods. will produce with Don Cornelius, the host and producer of the famed show, which ran from 1971-2006."
Porter was the executive producer of the 1995 Larenz Tate/Chris Tucker drama, "Dead Presidents," and Geller was the executive producer of the 2007 Winona Ryder/Simon Baker dramedy, "Sex and Death 101."
Spellman notes that he is penning a film that will be set in the 1980s.
"All of the hip-hop street dances you see today were born during that time period and were first seen on that show, and I remember doing all of them when I was a kid," said Spellman.
Cornelius told Spellman that his vision for the movie was to arrange a tour that included bands and dancers and that the writer would make the fictional tour the focal point of the film.
"This guy is a serious popper, with street edge, and he wants to get on that tour, with the hottest of the hot," Spellman said. "Writing with Don involved is quite an experience. He's still the godfather of cool."
Cornelius hosted "Soul Train" from 1971 to 1993 and sold the show to MadVision Entertainment in 2008. He is a former Chicago police officer and radio disc jockey.