Unbeknownst to many, acclaimed director Spike Lee was hard at work on a James Brown biopic when the Godfather died suddenly last Christmas. NME ran a story about how Brown's death shook things up a bit for Lee.

According to the magazine, Lee has been chatting with the Godfather's friend, the Reverend Al Sharpton, to make sure details from Brown's life are accurately portrayed. Sharpton represents a curious choice for any sort of accurate information about anything, but I guess we're going to have to trust Spike on this one.

No word on who will play Brown in the film, though Lee recently shot down rumors that he was in talks with Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy. Lee confirmed, however, that whoever does play Brown will not be singing the Godfather's tunes themselves.