Justin Timberlake has signed on to portray the late record producer Neil Bogart in the upcoming biopic ‘Spinning Gold,’ Deadline is reporting. The singer will also make his producing debut on the film. The movie which will be released by Boardwalk Films, the movie division of the media company Boardwalk Entertainment Group, which was recently launched by Bogart’s sons.

‘Spinning Gold,’ which was written by Bogart’s son Tim, will chronicle his rags-to-riches story. Growing up poor in Brooklyn, he later became a multimillionaire and helped define 1970s pop culture with his Casablanca label. Bogart launched the careers of such groups as KISS, Parliament and The Village People through Casablanca.

Tim has stated that ‘Spining Gold’ has taken nearly three decades to be made. The main issue producers have encountered is finding an actor who could embody the record producer. He died in 1982 at the age of 39, so producers struggled to find a young actor who could carry the film. Timberlake “has the exact same energy as my father, the same glimmer in his eye,” Tim has said of the actor.

‘Spinning Gold’ will be independently financed, but Tim said it will have a major studio-size budget. The producers are currently speaking with potential directors, and filming is expected to begin before the end of 2012.

Written by: Karen Benardello