Forest Whitaker to direct and star in Louis Armstrong biopic

Variety reports that Forest Whitaker will direct and star in the film What a Wonderful World, a biopic on musician Louis Armstrong. Paris-based Legende, the company behind La Vie en rose, is producing the film, alongside Edward R. Pressman, and Oscar Cohen, executive of the Armstrong estate and the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.

Ron Bass is prepping the screenplay for the project. The film is the first project to be authorized by the Armstrong estate, and will begin during the musician’s impoverished early years in New Orleans and primarily chronicle his career as a trumpet virtuoso and improvisational singer, although Armstrong also appeared in more than 30 films, during his career.