Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson making film about Neil Diamond tribute act
Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson are set to star in Song Sung Blue, a new film about a Neil Diamond tribute band.
The movie is named after a 1972 song by the veteran singer-songwriter, and will be directed by Craig Brewer, known for helming Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan and Dolemite Is My Name.
Jackman and Hudson will play real-life Milwaukee couple Mike and Claire Sardina, two downtrodden musicians who establish a local reputation as Lightning & Thunder, a tribute act to Diamond.
The film will be based on Greg Kohs’ 2008 documentary of the same name, and will also star The Sopranos’ Michael Imperioli, Succession’s Fisher Stevens and Jim Belushi.
Jackman starred in Deadpool & Wolverine earlier this year, the second-highest grossing film of 2024 so far (behind Inside Out 2). In July, he shared his reaction to a pivotal fight scene in the movie. In a clip of him watching the scene on a laptop on a plane, he is visibly giddy with glee, grinning and slapping his chest and fighting back bursts of laughter.
Meanwhile, last year, Diamond opened up about living with Parkinson’s disease, a condition he was diagnosed with in 2018. He admitted he was in denial about it for “the first year or two”.
“I don’t like it but this is me,” he said at the time. “This is what I have to accept. And I’m willing to do it. Okay, so this is the hand that God’s given me, and I have to make the best of it, and so I am.”
He also spoke at the time about his experience of watching A Beautiful Noise, the Broadway musical based on the story of his life. “It was all pretty hard,” he said. “I was a little embarrassed. I was flattered. Being found out is the scariest thing you can hope, because we all have a façade. And the truth be known to all of ’em. I’m not some big star. I’m just me.”
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Max Pilley
NME
