John Legend’s production company is developing a biopic about late comedian Bernie Mac

John Legend’s production company Get Lifted is set to produce a biopic based on the life and times of the late comedian and actor Bernie Mac.

The announcement about the project’s development was made during the 2021 Tribeca Festival, where the 42-year-old hitmaker’s producing partner, Mike Jackson, revealed the big news on Thursday.

The singer-songwriter and the Emmy-nominated actor notably appeared with Samuel L. Jackson in the 2008 feature Soul Men, where the latter’s performance was widely praised.

Jackson surprised Legend with the announcement about the project, as he stated, ‘We just partnered with Bernie Mac’s estate to cover Bernie Mac’s story.’

The producer also noted that the forthcoming film was ‘something that John doesn’t know about yet,’ which appeared to amuse the All Of Me singer.

He went on to express that the project was something that he was ‘very excited about’ and that the finalization of many of the film’s deal, which ‘just happened today.’ 

Jackson concluded by expressing his gratitude for being able to tell the late comedian’s story, as he remarked, ‘it’s about the opportunities to tell a story that you feel are important.’ 

Legend was enthusiastic about the project and humorously told his producing partner, ‘look at you breaking news over here.’ 

The singer-songwriter then commented that his involvement with the forthcoming film would give his fans ‘the Soul Men reunion you all wanted to see.’

He went on to briefly speak about his experience working on the comedy feature and elaborated on the comedian’s inspirations. 

Specifically, he recalled that Mac’s sense of ‘humor was always edgy but it always had so much heart to it at the same time. You could tell he was a family man. You could tell that he loved the people he was talking about.’ 

Legend also remarked that the comedian would often try to get people around the film’s set to laugh, as he noted, ‘he truly just got joy from lighting people’s faces up with laughter.’  

The Grammy-winning musician and Jackson co-founded Get Lifted with their other producing partner, Ty Stiklorius, in 2012, with the intention of developing diverse and inclusive content.

The team previously had a hand in the production of Jesus Christ Superstar Live! and La La Land, both of which featured the involvement of the Voice coach.

Last September, Jackson spoke to Variety and gave the media outlet a bit of insight into the production company’s vision for the content that they want to put out.

Specifically, he noted: ‘We love stories that…give people a lens into a world or person that they may not otherwise have.’ 

He added that the team’s ‘approach is pretty simple in that we like a good story and we like to have stories that are rooted and grounded in some sort of truth for the most part.’ 

Jackson also remarked that Get Lifted’s team would attempt to bring stories from historically marginalized groups to the forefront with their creative endeavors. 

The producer said that he and his partners ‘felt a responsibility…to always try to highlight females and people of color throughout all of our productions.’