Acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh
will direct Michael Douglas and Matt Damon in a Liberace biopic next
summer.
The project, which has been on the back
burner for over two years, is expected to finally get underway.
The Ocean's Eleven director has
drafted Douglas to play the flamboyant pianist and Damon is taking on
the part of Scott Thorson, Liberace's alleged lover.
“It's told from the perspective of
Scott,” Soderbergh told MTV News last year. “We have this
framing device in which he's laying [the story] out for us. As a
narrator, it feels like he has an agenda – and then when you get to
the ending you realize, 'Oh, it's not what I thought.'”
Liberace
vehemently denied being gay and successfully sued The Daily
Mirror and Confidential
in 1957 for implying he was gay.
The personal life
of Liberace – especially his true sexuality – remains mysterious
to this day. Born in Wisconsin, he started playing the piano at the
age of four. In the early 1940s he performed his musical act of
classical whimsy to New York audiences to some success, but hit the
jackpot in Las Vegas where he earned millions with his lavish –
some would say campy – musical productions.
In 1982, Scott
Thorson sued the pianist for $113 million in palimony – claiming
the pair shared a home for five years. The court dismissed his
claim, but he did receive a $95,000 settlement.
Liberace died at
the age of sixty-seven in 1987 from AIDS-related complications. His
noticeable rapid weight loss was attributed to a “watermelon diet”
by his longtime manager.
Also
set to begin filming is Clint Eastwood's biopic of FBI Director J.
Edgar Hoover.