Sammy Davis Jr. Tagged Articles at Cinematical

VH1 is claiming Elijah Kelley will play Sammy Davis Jr. in an upcoming biopic, although they might be jumping the gun. Last month, he let it slip that he was in talks to play the iconic Rat Packer, but now he's allowed to get at least a little chatty. Kelley told VH1: "It's going pretty well... Something is definitely in the works to be done on that project, and that's a dream project for me. I feel like that would open so many avenues and so many doors." If he can pull off this performance, he's probably right, but those are some big shoes to fill. Kelley went on to say: "I want to capture what actually made him what he was. He got really commercialized as he got older, [but] I just want to show everybody, along with the producers, how he came to be the way he was." That being said, there will be some cameos by Sammy's rat-pack cohorts later in the film.

Dealing with the performer's youth should help the project stand up against its competitors, also fighting for the Davis Jr. spotlight -- Denzel Washington and Brian Grazer are producing Black and White, and there's another one out there, Sammy and Kim, that details his relationship with actress Kim Novak. While there is bound to be overlap -- Washington's project seems to be the all-encompassing feature to the specific bits of time for the other two -- it'll be nice to get detailed pieces of his life, rather than dueling biopics that cover the same material, like the recent Capote features. Kelley says of the competition: "I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and keeping my prayers up. You know what? It's like this: I just want to make the project a quality project. Regardless of whether there's 25 of them out, [I want to make] the one that's supposed to be seen, and supposed to be heard, and supposed to be felt." Now we've just got to wait for the project to gear up and see what they make of it.

Well, I guess we can add another name to the list of actors competing for the role of the late great Rat Packer Sammy Davis Jr. While doing some press with MTV for Hairspray, star Elijah Kelley let it slip that he is in talks to play the legendary song and dance man. Now, here's where it starts to get a little complicated for Kelley. A couple of weeks ago, Jette had word that there were three competing Davis projects in active development. The forerunners are a co-production between Denzel Washington and Brian Grazer based on the 2003 biography In Black and White, and a film with André Benjamin that focuses on the relationship between Davis and actress Kim Novak. Kelley would be reuniting with Hairspray producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron for his chance to play the candy man; he says that he would be playing Davis between the age of 15 to 25, which were the years that "made him Sammy Davis Jr."

Kelley is not waiting around for this role though, and has already signed with New Line for Party Up, a movie that revolves around the treasured standby of all teen comedies, the house party gone awry. And since it's all just speculation at this point, it's way too early to tell if Kelley could even handle the more dramatic aspects of Davis' life. We know that he can rock a finger wave, but first, we are going to have to wait and see who emerges victorious in the "battle of the biopics."

Remember the dueling Truman Capote biopics, Capote and Infamous? That's nothing compared to the possibilities for movies focusing on Sammy Davis Jr. and his memorable career. According to the New York Times, the potential movie projects currently number four -- three features and a documentary, focusing on different aspects of the singer/actor's life from various biographical sources. If the Capote films are any kind of benchmark, it seems that the first movie to reach theaters will likely be the one with the biggest box-office success. This means that when one of these films actually goes into production, the other projects may crumble. Here are the contenders for the big race:

• Denzel Washington starring in and possibly directing a Brian Grazer-produced adaptation of 2003 biography In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr., written by Wil Haywood. Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures have teamed up for this movie. This is the one I'm betting will prevail, simply because of the big-name talent behind it.
• Andre Benjamin (aka Andre 3000) starring in Sammy and Kim, about Davis's affair with actress Kim Novak in the 1950s, which drew a lot of controversy at the time. The sensationalist aspect of this story could potentially draw a lot of crowds.
• New Line is finalizing a deal to adapt Davis's best-selling autobiography from 1965, Yes, I Can, which was actually written by Jane and Burt Boyar. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who have produced Chicago and Hairspray, are attached as producers. This biopic is endorsed by Davis's widow, but no lead actor has yet been named.
  
• A documentary is also in the running, also based on Yes, I Can, and using Burt Boyar's filmed interviews with Davis. This sounds like it might be a good alternate, smaller film that would clarify facts that might balance out a more sensational, fictionalized biopic.