Marvin Gaye Biopic to Be Made by Julien Temple

Legendary soul singer Marvin Gaye is to receive the biopic treatment after director Julien Temple was given the official go-ahead to make the film. It is understood that directors Cameron Crowe and F Gary Gray have already made unsuccessful attempts to bring Gaye's story to the big screen.

According to Screen Daily.com, the film will focus on Gaye's final studio album, 'Midnight Love.' Recorded in Brussels, the album -- and its smash-hit single, 'Sexual Healing', succeeded in re-establishing Gaye as musical force after years of cocaine addiction had left his career on the rocks. Gaye was forced into exile in Europe in 1981 after a long-running battle with the IRS.

Filming is set to take place in Ostend, Belgium -- the town that Gaye called home during his period away from the US in the early 80s. Crucially Julien Temple -- the man behind rockumentaries on Sex Pistols, Joe Strummer and Dr. Feelgood -- has secured the backing of record company EMI who own the rights to the songs on the album.

The movie is believed to centre on the relationship between Gaye and Belgian promoter Freddy Cousaert, the man who persuaded Gaye to return to the US and stage a comeback. No casting decisions have been made and it is unknown whether the film will including Gaye's slaying at the hands of his father, Marvin Gaye Senior.

Watch Marvin Gaye Perform 'Sexual Healing' at the 1983 Grammy Awards