Crazy Legs Developing Prince Biopic Based On First Wife Mayte Garcia’s Memoir ‘The Most Beautiful’
Crazy Legs Features has nabbed film rights to The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince, the bestseller from Mayte Garcia, chronicling her romance with the iconic musical artist, for development as a scripted biopic. With the WGA strike in the rearview mirror, the company is now in search of a writer to pen the adaptation.
The first wife of the superstar born Prince Rogers Nelson, Mayte’s bestseller offers a perspective on Prince through their intensely personal relationship that shows a depth and nuance never revealed of the famously private and beloved artist. The book’s title is inspired by the hit song Prince wrote about their legendary love story that started backstage at a concert. What began as a friendship between two artists blossomed into a romance, thrived as a fairytale from their wedding day, and then struggled due to the devastating losses that ultimately ended their marriage in 2000. Still, through it all, the pair shared a bond that was among the most intimate in Prince’s life.
More from Deadline
Garnering innumerable accolades over the course of his career, including the Grammy President’s Merit Award, the Billboard Icon Award, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe, Prince is amongst the best-selling musical artists of all time, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. A prolific talent, he over the course of his life put out nearly 40 studio albums, along with assorted live albums and compilations. Among the Minneapolis native’s most iconic albums is 1984’s Purple Rain, the soundtrack to the same-name film that he fronted for Warner Bros, which spent six months on the Billboard 200 chart and won him an Oscar for Best Original Song Score.
While he was romantically linked to many over the years, Prince only married again to Manuela Testolini, from 2001 to 2006. A 2004 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he died of an accidental fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016, aged 57.
Producing the Most Beautiful film for Crazy Legs are Tom Cappello, Scott Thigpen and Marie Halliday. Gilbert Davison, Prince’s friend and security director, who later served as his personal manager and president of his estate and recording complex Paisley Park, is serving as associate producer.
Said Crazy Legs Productions Co-Founder and CEO, Cappello, in a statement to Deadline, “Prince is one of our generation’s most electrifying, charismatic, and enigmatic personalities. We are honored that Mayte has chosen us to bring her moving, candid memoir to life and bring to the screen a rare window to an artist that changed my life and the lives of tens of millions of fans around the world. We are eager to start developing this project.”
Added Garcia: “Crazy Legs is a perfect partner to bring this deeply personal reflection of my life with Prince to the screen. Their diverse body of work shows an artistry and craft to tell personal stories about the most complex, most beautiful human beings. This film will provide an intimate look at the man I loved, our life together, and his lasting influence.”
A dancer and an actress, in addition to a bestselling author, Garcia’s feature credits include New Regency’s Firehouse Dog, the indie Life Is Hot in Cracktown opposite Victor Rasuk, Brandon Routh, and Kerry Washington, and Ego opposite Eve and Vincent Laresca. On the television side, she has appeared on Lifetime’s Army Wives, USA’s Psych, NBC’s Las Vegas, TNT’s The Closer, FX’s Nip/Tuck, and VH1’s Hollywood Exes. Her time with Prince, saw her dancing and singing as part of his backing band New Power Generation, appearing alongside him in music videos, on awards shows, on TV, and on tour, while helming certain videos. She additionally contributed to Prince’s albums as a singer-songwriter, and directed his tour for the album Around the World in A Day, releasing her memoir The Most Beautiful in 2017.
Crazy Legs Features is a division of Crazy Legs Productions, an Atlanta-based full-service content creator best known for its work on reality series like 1000-lb Sisters and Cutler’s Court. The company has expanded of late into narrative, having thus far wrapped production on three features and four feature docs, with other projects to go into production next year. Most recently announced by the company was Home Safe, a psychological thriller starring Felisha Terrell, Jason MacDonald, and Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, on which it’s wrapped production. Directed by Bad Milo‘s Jacob Vaughan, the film is set to be taken to market this fall.
Garcia is repped by Davison; Crazy Legs by CAA.
Best of Deadline
SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreements: Full List Of Movies And TV Series
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries
2023 Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Cable & Streaming
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.