Move over Andre Benjamin. You’re not the only
game in town anymore. It was announced at the Cannes Film Festival that Anthony
Mackie will portray rock legend Jimi
Hendrix in the film Jimi, based on a screenplay by British screenwriter and director Ol
Parker who will also direct the project.

The film, which
has been in development for years, with Mackie always attached as Hendrix under its original title Crosstown Traffic, was originally set to be directed by Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips, The Bourne Supremacy,
The Bourne Ultimatum, The Green Zone). 

However the
project fell apart four years ago when Hendrix’s estate objected to how the
famed guitarist was portrayed in the script, which deals with the last nine
days of his life. The situation has evidently now been resolved, and the project is set to start shooting soon.

Co-starring in
the film will be Thandie Newton, who is
also Parker’s real life wife. And talks are currently underway to get Noomi Rapace to play Hendrix’s former Swedish
actress girlfriend Kathy Etchingham.