The Other Casablanca

 It was confirmed late last night that their is a new biopic in the works. However, contrary to common presumptions, it's not about someone the public is completely familiar with nor is it just about the person. It's about Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart and the contributions to music he made before he died of cancer in the early 1980s. Justin Timberlake has signed on to produce and star in the movie as the lead character.
According to Huffington Post, Justin and Neil Bogart's sons met and immediately bonded over ideas for the movie. Bogart's sons said that from that moment they knew that Timberlake was ideal for the role. The commonality between experience in the music industry as well as a relentless vision definitely gives him that credibility. Hopefully this biopic will provide insight into a label that helped shape music in several different genres.
 Casablanca Records helped discover and promote acts such as the Village People, Donna Summer, Parliament/Funkadelic, and KISS. In a word, this was probably the most important label in the 1970s in terms of bringing acts that wouldn't have otherwise been in the forefront to the top of the pop charts.
 The Village People were essentially the first act in the mainstream to really use camp and costume to capture audience attention. They had distinct characters long before the Spice Girls, the Pussycat Dolls, or any other group with distinctive identities. It's also noted that they helped popularize the disco genre alongside label mate Donna Summer.
 Donna Summer is considered by many to be the first lady of disco. With hits like "Dim All the Lights" and "Love to Love You, Baby" helped empower women to conquer the dance floor and their sexuality. Her career peaked in the late 1970s, but her early 80s hit "She Works Hard for the Money" is arguably one of the forerunners of the girl power movement in music.
 "Parliament/Funkadelic" is one of the funkiest groups in music history. Like the Village People- their acts were full of camp and comedy- which intrigued audiences. However, their group was distinctive. Lead by mad genius George Clinton- they had an unstoppable run of hits in the 1970s like "Up for the Down Stroke," "Flashlight", and "Knee Deep."
 Finally, KISS is noted for well, being KISS. Fronted by Gene Simmons, they haven't stopped rocking since the early 1970s and have managed to dominate pop culture whether we like it or not.
 It'll be interesting to see how the biopic approaches Casablanca's relationships with all of these storied acts as well as his unparalleled success at a time when the music business was on the verge of folding. The 1970s, while considered a great era of music- was problematic in that record sales were tanking and there was a power struggle between major and independent labels that has continued to go on into the present. And while these issues did resolve themselves with the birth of MTV in the early 1980s, they have since reappeared in the past ten years with the rise of the digital music revolution. Something that Justin Timberlake undoubtedly understands.
 Justin Timberlake became a child star making music and memories on the Mickey Mouse Club,  then rose to instant fame as one-fifth of *NSYNC, and if that wasn't enough decidedly became a megastar when he went solo nearly ten years ago. Since then, he's been a one man pop culture show. His music, SNL hosting stints, and movies have all continued to keep him in the public eye when many of his contemporaries have struggled to transition as smoothly. However, the real question becomes how he will carry a movie on his own.
 This year he's starred in "Bad Teacher" and "Friends with Benefits" and in late October will star as an ageless gangster in "In Time."  While all of these movies have his name on it, the results have been mixed. "Bad Teacher" received mixed reviews and good box office; "Friends with Benefits" had good reviews and poor box office. And "In Time" is positioning itself to be a classic fall popcorn action movie.
 And while this movie is a biopic based on something Timberlake has knowledge in, the risk is there. Biopic aren't always sexy box office. For every "Ray," there are ten movies like  Hillary Swank's "Amelia." However, since Neil Bogart is more of a cult figure and people gravitate to cult figures and underdogs-there's a good chance Justin Timberlake can pull this off.