Theo James: The White Lotus actor earmarked as potential lead in George Michael biopic

Following the successes of Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018 and Rocketman in 2019, cinema buffs who love a good biopic will be interested to hear that plans for a movie on the career of George Michael are currently in the works. Such is the speed of these plans coming to fruition that a name has already been brought up to play the lead role of the former Wham! member.

The film plans to follow in the footsteps of Elton John’s biopic, starring Taron Egerton, with a warts and all account of the life of George Michael from his start with Wham! through to his solo success not once but twice in his lifetime.

This approach to his biopic, opposed to the suggestions that Bohemian Rhapsody was “clean up” rather than a deep dive into Freddie Mercury’s life, has been endorsed by the George Michael estate with a budget set for $100 million USD and the script already finished.

But first, to convince their first choice to play the late Faith singer, producers are rumoured to be looking at casting The White Lotus actor Theo James for the role. One of the reasons why they want the 38-year-old British actor for the role is his Greek background - much like George Michael, James was born to a Greek father and a British mother.

“Oh yeah, I would love that. He is an icon. He is a bit Greek and I am a bit Greek," James had told reporters during an interview. Some social media users have started to compare the look between the pair, getting the rare “thumbs up” from the internet regarding the casting role.

Currently starring in season two of HBO’s award-winning comedy The White Lotus, Theo James first made his mark in Hollywood appearing in the Divergent series of films alongside TV roles in Downton Abbey and a lead role in CBS drama Golden Boy. Recently, James has also found himself undertaking voice acting roles for Netflix titles.

He voiced not only the character Hector in the animated series Castlevania (based on the video game franchise of the same name), but also voiced Rek'yr in the 2019 series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

The return of the musical biopic

The success of Bohemian Rhapsody (the highest-grossing biopic in cinematic history), Rocketman and more recently the Austin Butler-led Elvis picture has seen a rise in the music biopic once again in Hollywood. This year alone, moviegoers were treated to the life and times of Whitney Houston with 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody'.

Hollywood insiders across a multitude of websites and social media platforms have alluded to a slew of new musical biopics, from a renewed interest in Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, Madonna and even Amy Winehouse, set to feature Marisa Abela

But the musical biopic isn’t a new genre and dates far back longer than you would think. In 1909, French actor Harry Baur took on the role of Ludwig van Beethoven in the film Origin of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and it would take another five years until another musician’s life was documented with 1913’s The Life and Works of Richard Wagner.

There also lies somewhat of a stigma that performers that take on the roles of famous musicians can be assured of some form of critical appraisal for the most part. Gary Busey, known more now for his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother and Keanu Reeves’ film Point Break, was at one point nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in 1978’s The Buddy Holly Story.

Rami Malek’s star turn performance as Freddie Mercury earned the performer the Best Actor gong at the 91st Academy Awards, and Taron Egerton also a Golden Globe portraying Elton John. But for every successful biopic, there are equally those that are either critically reviled (2013’s CBGBs was torn to shreds by reviewers) or that take poetic licence with some of the facts at hand it causes issues for the remaining members (Oliver Stone's The Doors for example).

Will the George Michael biopic receive the critical and commercial heights of recent biopics, or will it find itself on the wrong side of a critical panning? The question immediately before that is - will Theo James sign onto the role?