Music Times reported earlier this week that an authorized biopic of R&B icon Sam Cooke, focusing on his murder at the age of 33, would be entering production soon. Turns out that project might not be as "authorized" as initial reports suggested. The Cooke family told Rolling Stone that they had no involvement in that film, and that in fact they had been working with ABKCO Films to create their own biopic.
"Recent media reports about a proposed biographical film on the life of Sam Cooke and L.C. Cooke's purported involvement with the project are false," read a statement from the family. "ABKCO Films is the only company authorized by Sam Cooke's widow and surviving siblings to produce a biopic of Sam Cooke's life."
The world was already aware that an ABKCO film had the backing of the Cooke family, but producer Romeo Antonio claimed that he had backing as well for his own project, reportedly titled Sam Cooke: The Truth. According to the filmmaker, Cooke's brother David, sister-in-law Phyllis and nephew Eugene all backed his film.
As Rolling Stone points out, Cooke had three children of his own before his death, as well as seven siblings who have their own children. So in theory, anyone could propose a film about the soul vocalist, reach out to one of them and claim "Cooke family backing." However the ABKCO biopic will always have the majority support of the family, and therefore stand as the "most official" product.
That, of course, doesn't suggest that Antonio doesn't have the legal ability to create his own film (even if his claims of Cooke family support are a tad misleading).
The film admittedly has an intriguing premise, serving as a "murder mystery." Cooke's death was a bizarre one: He was gunned down by a motel manager, who wasn't charged based on witness testimony that Cooke has attacked her. Earlier in the night another woman had reported that the vocalist attempted to kidnap her. Many conspiracy theories have stemmed from the murder, including allegations of mob connections and an assassination tied to Cooke's civil rights movement activity.
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