Questlove will direct Disney’s live-action/hybrid reimagining of The Aristocats.
The founding member of the band The Roots – real name Ahmir Thompson – won the Oscar for Best Documentary for Summer of Soul last year.
The Aristocats will be the Grammy winner’s directorial debut, and he will also produce and oversee the film’s music, according to Deadline.
The new film is based on the 1970 Disney cartoon about Duchess, a Persian cat, and her kittens Marie, Berlioz and Toulouse, who will inherit their owner’s fortune.
The greedy butler steps in and sends the cats into the country – where they meet a charming street cat named Thomas O’Malley.
Aristocat: Questlove will direct Disney’s live-action/hybrid reimagining of The Aristocats (pictured March 2023). Cool Cats: The new movie is based on the 1970 Disney animated film about Duchess, a Persian cat, and her kittens Marie, Berlioz and Toulouse who are set to inherit their owner’s fortune
The Persian cats are given an introduction to life on the streets, courtesy of Thomas O’Malley and friends, as they make their way back to town to reclaim their home before it’s too late.
Questloves Two One Five Entertainment will produce the screenplay, written by Will Gluck and Keith Bunin, along with Tarik Trotter, Shawn Gee and Zarah Zohlman.
Questlove’s Summer of Soul, about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and began its Oscar-winning run in 2022.
Last month, the The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon star revealed why Will Smith wasn’t included in the Grammy salute to 50 years of hip-hop.
Smith, 54, was scheduled to take the stage at LA’s Crypto.com Arena alongside fellow 1990s star Jazzy Jeff but was mysteriously absent that night.
LL Cool J introduced the segment and laid down the roots of the genre at a party in the Bronx in August 1973, when a DJ played the beats that laid the foundation for hip-hop.
The tribute was attended by generations of hip-hop artists from Grandmaster Flash to Lil Uzi Vert, and many fans took to social media to praise the tribute.
And while Smith is rebuilding his reputation after beating Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, that wasn’t why he wasn’t part of the hip-hop tribute.
Thomas O’Malley: A Stray Cat Leads Duchess and Her Kittens Home Before It’s Too Late Oscar-winning: Questloves Summer of Soul via the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix of Jury won started his run to winning an Oscar in 2022
Questlove told Variety, “I’ll put the spoiler alert away. Will Smith was part of the celebrations tonight, but they started filming Bad Boys 4 this week.
“He had to do a lot of pre-recording, so we had to lose Will.”
And even though Questlove was at the 2022 Oscars — he totally missed Smith beating Rock — even though his award was the one Rock presented.
“Of course it happened in the whirlwind of a very different situation with two very good friends of mine,” he said shortly after the Oscars on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. “I really wasn’t aware of that.”
Great Cats: Roquefort the Mouse helps Thomas bring the Duchess and the kittens back home
The Roots drummer said he was practicing Transcendental Meditation at the time his category was announced when the incident between Smith and Rock happened.
“It’s weird to say because they tell you up front, ‘That’s your category,’ so either you’re going to be full of anxiety at that moment or, for me, I’ve been meditating for the last two years,” he said.
“When the commercial break happened I was just meditating and when I opened my eyes I didn’t realize – why is everyone so quiet? Like I literally wasn’t there the whole moment.
He continued, “But in my mind they’re just doing a sketch or whatever and I was like, ‘OK, Ahmir, remember to thank your mother, your father,’ so I wasn’t present at all, I was just in a space.’
Questlove said that as he “walked up to the stage,” he “put two and two together and realized this was a real moment” between Smith and Rock before delivering his acceptance speech.