Spike Lee to direct James Brown bio-pic

"The late "Godfather of Soul" James Brown will rise again -- on screen.

"Spike Lee has signed on to direct a feature film about the singer produced by Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment, Paramount Pictures announced Wednesday.

"'It's an authorized biography done with the cooperation of Mr. Brown before his passing," Paramount spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick said.

"Lee will rewrite a draft by Jezz and John Henry Butterworth, the trade paper Daily Variety reported Wednesday. The script has been through several drafts since Steve Baigelman wrote the original. The movie could be in production by late 2007, Variety said....

"Brown's music career will come full circle when his body is brought to rest on the stage of the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, where he made his explosive debut, and the world changed to his beat.

"The public will be permitted to visit the Apollo today to have one more look at a man who helped steer modern musical tastes toward rhythm-and-blues, funk, hip-hop, disco and rap, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Tuesday. Sharpton has been a close friend of Brown's for decades.

"'It would almost be unthinkable for a man who lived such a sensational life to go away quietly,' Sharpton said in an interview from Georgia, where he was making funeral arrangements with Brown's children.

"Sharpton said the public Apollo viewing will be followed by a private ceremony Friday in Brown's hometown, Augusta, Ga., and another public ceremony, officiated by Sharpton, a day later at the James Brown Arena there...."