docs

Marvin Gaye’s Family Has Finally Authorized a Documentary About His Life

Marvin Gaye. Photo: Rob Verhorst/Getty Images

Many have attempted to make a film about Marvin Gaye, but few have seen it materialize, thanks in part to the late icon’s now-infamously litigious family. But it appears Gaye’s life may finally get its overdue big-screen treatment: For the first time, all three of Gaye’s surviving children — Nona, Marvin III, and Frankie Gaye — and his ex-wife, Janis Gaye, have authorized a documentary about the Motown legend. Variety reports that the family has approved Marvin, What’s Going On?, a doc from directors Gabriel Clarke and Torquil Jones (Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans), Noah Media Group, and Greenlight about the creation of Gaye’s 1971 opus, What’s Going On. The film, set for 2017, will feature interviews with Motown pioneers and never-before-seen archival footage from the Gaye family. Fingers crossed it’ll be as stark a portrait of Gaye, flaws and all, like last year’s Amy and What Happened, Miss Simone?, rather than another erasure of history.

Authorized Marvin Gaye Doc Is in the Works