NEW YORK – The Weinstein Company is thrilled to announce that they have acquired the rights to develop, produce and distribute the first ever biopic about the legendary Jamaican singer, songwriter, guitarist, and activist, Bob Marley and his wife Rita Marley.
The feature film will be based on the autobiography “No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley” written by Rita Marley, the widow of the legendary reggae musician. The book is an intimate and epic account of their relationship, which went from the streets of Trenchtown to the heights of the international music and political worlds. Rudy Langlais (“The Hurricane”) is set to produce the film from a script written by Lizzie Borden (“Working Girls”). Rita Marley will serve as executive producer.
More details about the project will be announced soon. The announcement was made Tuesday, March 3 by Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company.
Rita Marley stated, “Bob always told me, ‘Wherever you are I will be there’ and I didn’t understand it until much later. Our lives began in a government yard in Trenchtown with hopes of reaching the world through music and through our dreams. I wrote my book to tell my story — of the dreams we shared and those days we spent living and believing in our hope.
I saw it and now we get to tell it through our movie. I’ve waited a longtime to tell this story, about growing up in Jamaica and meeting Bob and making our music and falling in love and making our family. All that, and all that we went through went into this. Now is that time. This is my story.”
Harvey Weinstein stated, “I could not be more excited about this film and about bringing audiences around the world a true look into the delicate and dynamic lives of Rita and Bob Marley. Bob Marley was a prolific individual who has influenced and impacted the world with engaging messages he expressed through his moving and socially observant music. His voice commanded attention, it commanded compassion, and it commanded peace. He was a profound musical prophet, whose voice and words inspired generations across the world. We hope this film will resonate across all classes and creeds.”
Rudy Langlais stated, “Rita Marley is the only one and the only way to tell this extraordinary love story. There’s a reggae song, ‘She who lives it, knows it.’ Rita lived it all with Bob – the rugged years in the Trenchtown ghetto, the rise to fame and stardom with the Wailers, the complex love affair that spanned his short life, the attempted assassination of both of them on the eve of a concert, and his tragic death at 35. Rita was there, she saw it all — and she is taking us into the heart of it all through her amazing book and story. This is Rita’s story of her life with Bob.”
Production Executive, Ben Famiglietti brought this project to The Weinstein Company, along with Michael Cole, Co-Head of Production. They will oversee the project on behalf of The Weinstein Company. Eric Roth, EVP of Business and Legal Affairs negotiated the deal on behalf of The Weinstein Company. Mickey Freiberg from ACME Talent Literary along with Eric Weissmann from Weissmann, Wolf, Bergman, Colman & Silverman negotiated on behalf of Rudy Langlais and Lizzie Borden. Attorneys Bob Epstein, Marvin Zolt and Claude Ismael represented Rita Marley in negotiations.
“No Woman No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley” written by Rita Marley with Hettie Jones, was published by Hyperion in May of 2004.
Rita Marley
Rita Marley was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, married Bob Marley in 1966 and remained married to him until his death in 1981. She was the mother of two of his children, who displayed musical talent like their parents. Rita was also a musician, and performed with a girl-group called the I-Three who had been the back-up singers to Bob Marley and the Wailers.
After having witnessed the visit of Ethiopian leader Haile Selassie to Jamaica in 1961, Rita Marley converted to the Rastafarian religion and introduced it to Bob as well. He began to devote his spiritual life to its beliefs and adopted its traditions, which included wearing his iconic dreadlocks. As Marley’s music and persona became more and more controversial in Jamaica, the political turmoil it stirred resulted in an assassination attempt on the eve of a concert in Kingston, at which Bob and Rita were shot. To this day, Rita Marley is a benefactor of numerous humanitarian causes. She continues to perform worldwide and lives in Ghana, West Africa.
Bob Marley
Bob Marley was born under the name of Nesta Robert Marley in the Jamaican countryside town of Nine Miles in 1945. His father was a white Jamaican Marine Officer and Captain of English descent, while his mother was a young black Jamaican girl. After his father’s death, Bob moved with his mother to the Kingston ghetto of Trenchtown. There he began playing music, imitating American R&B, and soon formed a band with several other musicians, including Neville O’Riley Livingston and Peter Tosh, calling
themselves The Wailers. Their music evolved into what they called “reggae,” expressing their rebellious spirit against British colonial rule.
Financed by Island Record owner and fellow Jamaican Chris Blackwell, Marley and the Wailers soon were brought to international attention and broke out into world fame. Marley went solo under Blackwell’s direction and became an international legend, his music addressing everything from passionate love to revolution in the third world, to humanity’s unity in the anthem “One Love.” Bob Marley died of a long- gestating cancer in 1981. At the end of the century, Time Magazine and The New York Times named him the most important popular artist of the 20th Century and his record “Exodus” the important record of the century. He was also awarded the United Nations Medal of Peace for the Third World.
