“Dreamgirls” co-star Sharon Leal will be singing anew in the musical road comedy Soul Men. We have obtained the news of this casting thanks to the blessed caves of yahoo:
The Dimension Films project, directed by Malcolm D. Lee, stars Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac as Louis and Floyd, two estranged former backup soul singers for a famed group who reluctantly agree to travel together for a memorial concert at the Apollo Theater in honor of their recently deceased frontman.
Leal will play Louis’ daughter Cleo, who joins him and Floyd on their road trip and eventually becomes a singer for the band.
The Blues Brothers set the bar for musical road comedies, and remains one of my most beloved films to this day. I like the outline for Soul Men and am certainly a fan of both Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac. Mac is a hilarious man with fantastic timing. As the head mall cop in Bad Santa he had me rolling. The scene where John Ritter and Bernie Mac discuss the recent “happenings” in the women’s big and tall section, is the stuff of comedy legend. It will be cool to see Sam and Bernie play off of one another and lets hope the film is good enough to make this pairing worth while.
Sharon Leal is the main reason I watched Boston Public. I am not a big fan of TV; but I am a fan of delicious. She had a few episodes where she was able to showcase her singing and then took that ability to the silver screen in Dreamgirls. I think Leal is a fantastic choice for a musical lead, now we wait and see if she can play well off of Sam and Bernie.
The Apollo is a legendary theatre that is held in high regard, and for very good reason – Gods of soul, funk and R&B were born on the stage. It is an appropriate end location for a film like this; as we follow the characters, we join them on their pilgrimage to holy ground. We will keep our ears up for additional news on this one and will be sure to keep you posted!
