A&E is greenlighting a full-length documentary about Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s life and career.
This documentary will encompass interviews with ODB’s family and close friends, as well as never-before-seen personal archival footage from his wife, Icelene Jones.
Sam Pollard and Jason Pollard are set to co-direct the two-hour documentary, tentatively titled Biography: Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
The ODB estate will produce it in partnership with Four Screens and Pulse Films, the production company that produced Beastie Boys Story, Beyonce‘s Lemonade, and Katy Perry‘s Part of Me.
“I am thrilled to tell the full story of my husband. With this documentary, the world will learn about the son, the husband, the father, and the artist,” Jones said in a statement. “I’m proud of the team that we built, including Pulse, my producing partners Nicole Beckett and Messiah Jacobs at Four Screens, and our directing team, the Pollards.”
The documentary will explore everything from ODB’s Brooklyn upbringing, his time with Wu-Tang Clan, his adult family life, and his fatal overdose in 2004.
“At Pulse Films, we are passionate about making music documentaries that tell intimate and unique stories about the world’s most iconic artists,” said Sam Bridger, executive producer.
“ODB completely redefined what it meant to be an MC. A genius who lived and breathed his art. We are thrilled to have Sam and Jason Pollard on board, who are the perfect filmmakers to tell this amazing story for the first time. There will never be anyone quite like ODB, and we are so grateful to his family and friends for inviting us into his world.”
ODB‘s biopic has reportedly been in the works for a few years now. In November, Wu-Tang member RZA confirmed the film was part of his multi-year Wu-Tang plan.
“The documentary was to capture the story as best we can in the reality of it, and then the TV series was to dramatize it,” RZA told MIC. “The third tier of the plan, which I’m in progress, is an ODB movie biopic. Like the five-year Wu-Tang plan, this was a five-year media plan that I concocted, I meditated on, and I’m striving to live out. So far, it’s working well.”
The A&E documentary Biography: Ol’ Dirty Bastard is scheduled to premiere in 2023.
