JLake Forrest Entertainment and The Exchange have joined forces to provide financing for a new biopic on Hollywood action icon Steve McQueen. The project, currently titled McQueen, has already attracted the interest of director James Gray (The Immigrant) and stars such as Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling and Jeremy Renner. The production companies are currently seeking a screenwriter at this time.

The project will be partially based on Marshall Terrill‘s 2010 biography Steve McQueen: The Life And Legend Of A Hollywood Icon. The book chronicles the actor’s entire life, from his childhood in Indiana throughout his Hollywood career and his death in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico at the age of 50, from a heart attack after an experimental cancer surgery. The actor, whose hit movies include The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape and Bullitt, just to name a few, was one of the first in Hollywood to explore alternative cancer treatments. The biopic will also be partially based on a mysterious story that Steve McQueen himself wrote about his own life, which is being kept under wraps. Here’s what Lake Forest Entertainment’s Graham Kaye had to say about the biopic in a statement.

“[There is a diary] that was kept by his nurse in Mexico who gave it to the author of the book that was done on him by Marshall Terrill. Something happened in McQueen‘s life that has been kept secret for a long time. We think we have a very interesting way into this story.”

Graham Kaye is producing with The Exchange’s Jeff Bowler and Brian O’Shea. Lake Forest’s Elliott Michael Smith, Jensen Kaye, Will Clevinger and James Tuverson will also be working on the project. Here’s what Brian O’Shea had to say in a statement, revealing it won’t be like any other biopic out there.

“We’re figuring out how to tell the story now. It won’t be the obvious biopic. I worked on Monster and Drive and one of the things we’re going to follow is his authenticity; he was just himself. I think that is why so many people are interested in this project. He was the king of cool. The most commercial thing is authenticity and honesty. And I think that emanates from him and what made him so relevant. I think that is why directors and actors have been asking about it.”

As for the actors who are interested in the project, no offers have been made yet, but with this kind of interest already brewing for the project, the producers may be able to lock down a cast, director and writer fairly soon. Are you looking forward to seeing Steve McQueen‘s life unfold on the silver screen? Let us know what you think below.

McQueen comes to theaters in 2017.