The 'Superbad' star will also be a producer on the film.
Jonah Hill's been wanting to team up again with Martin Scorsese ever since The Wolf of Wall Street. Nearly a decade later, the duo’s found the perfect project. Hill’s been tapped to portray the late rock legend Jerry Garcia in a Grateful Dead biopic for Apple TV+.
ET can confirm Scorsese will direct and produce the untitled film. Hill’s also serving as a producer. The script is being written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson). The Grateful Dead’s surviving members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann will also executive produce along with Garcia’s daughter, Trixie Garcia. Jerry died in 1995 following a heart attack.
The band and the group’s management is also reportedly participating in the making of the film, which will give Apple full access to implement the band’s musical catalog for the film.
It’s unclear at this moment what Scorsese plans to cover in the film. But he’s no stranger to the group and its roots. Scorsese executive produced the 2017 Grateful Dead documentary Long Strange Trip, which premiered in 2017 at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Grateful Dead was formed in the mid-1960s in the Bay Area and quickly developed a rabid fan base who followed them across the country to indulge on its marathon sessions.
Hill and Scorsese are reunited for the first time since 2013's The Wolf of Wall Street. Hill would go on to earn his second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor following his portrayal of Jordan Belfort’s conniving right-hand man, Donnie Azoff.
That wasn’t the first time Hill played a real-life character. He played Peter Brand (the real person’s name is Paul DePodesta) in the 2011 film Moneyball. The role earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
In 2015, Hill starred in True Story and played the journalist Michael Finkel, whose identity was stolen by a man on the FBI’s most-wanted list accused of murdering his wife and three children.
The following year, Hill starred in War Dogs and portrayed the real-life American arms dealer Efraim Diveroli.
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