The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that a biopic about Bernie Mac is in the works. The film about the late comedian is being developed by musician John Legend’s production company, Get Lifted. Mac died from complications of pneumonia in 2008 at the age of 50.
Legend’s music partner, Mike Jackson, announced the news during a panel discussion while attending the 2021 Tribeca Festival. Mac’s successful career began in Chicago when the comedian was doing standup. Mac went on the make several films and had his own television show called The Bernie Mac Show.
Legend talked about Mac’s TV show during the panel discussion.
“It was beautifully done” he said. “His humor was always edgy but it always had so much heart to it at the same time. You could tell he was a family man. You could tell that he loved the people he was talking about.”
While the biopic should be hilarious, given that Mac was one of the funniest people alive, it is sure to be a tear-jerker as well. Mac was only 50 when he passed away unexpectedly in Chicago. Mac married his wife, Rhonda, when he was just 20 years old, and she was 19 in 1977. The couple was married for 30 years and share a daughter, Je’Niece.
Rhonda’s sister, Mary Ann Grossett, talked about Mac’s death to PEOPLE Magazine in 2008.
“He struggled for his life. He couldn’t breathe,” she said. “He opened his eyes on his own and looked at Rhonda. She called his name, and he opened his eyes and nodded to her. She smiled at him and told him, ‘Don’t leave me ‘I’m waiting for you to come back.’ He shrugged his shoulders, and she said that’s when she knew he was tired. He signaled to her that his body was tired. The doctors were working on him. They tried to resuscitate him two times. One time he came back for about an hour. Then he went into cardiac arrest the second time.”
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A biopic about the late Bernie Mac is in the works, courtesy of John Legend’s production company https://t.co/WMmQJqXYLR
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 13, 2021
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Legend worked with Mac on the film Soul Man in 2008 before Mac’s death. He said that Mac would make everyone on set laugh during breaks.
“He truly just got joy from lighting people’s faces up with laughter.”
Jackson and Legend didn’t provide any more details about when to expect the Bernie Mac biopic.
Mac starred in several films, including Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Guess Who, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, Life and Bad Santa.
