Ron Howard is turning his talents from pop to opera as he heads back into music biopics, this time with a documentary about Luciano Pavarotti.
The director had success with his documentary The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years in 2016 and is set to return to the genre with an authorised documentary about the acclaimed tenor.
It will be filmed with co-operation from the Pavarotti Estate, Universal Music Classics and Decca Records to give fans an insight into the star’s life and career.
Ron said: “Pavarotti’s life was replete with the highs and lows of great drama and, like any compelling character, he was also a man of considerable contradictions.
“His artistic ambition, propelled by his massive talent, and his deep love for humanity drove his career and the powerful bond with his audiences, but they also fuelled his other life as a world philanthropist.
“I am intrigued by the way his emotional passion not only drove his music and his powerful bond with his audiences, but his gift of his other life as a philanthropist.”
Italian-born Pavarotti made his name on the Covent Garden opera scene in London and went on to become a worldwide star, famed for his rendition of Nessun Dorma.
He packed out venues for solo performances, including London’s Hyde Park and New York’s Central Park, and won a Grammy Legend Award.
Pavarotti’s philanthropic work included his annual charity concerts Pavarotti And Friends in his home town of Modena, Italy, financing the Pavarotti Music Centre in Bosnia, and raising funds for refugees from Afghanistan and Kosovo.
He died from pancreatic cancer in 2007.
Ron and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment are teaming up again with Nigel Sinclair and Guy East’s White Horse Pictures after the success of their joint Beatles venture and the film will be made in collaboration with Polygram Entertainment and Studiocanal.
