Ol' Dirty Bastard, the rapper who died in 2004, will be played by "The Wire" star Michael K. Williams in "Dirty White Boy," the film's producers said Thursday.
"Dirty White Boy" is the story of Ol' Dirty Bastard, whose real name was Russell Jones (right), and his unlikely friendship with Jarred Weisfeld, 22-year-old VH1 intern-turned-manager from the suburbs.
Weisfeld and Jones' mother, Cherry Jones, are cooperating with the project.
Parts & Labor's Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy, who produced "Beginners," are partnering with Todd Hagopian at Ocean Size Pictures to make the movie.
"We both knew full well who Ol' Dirty Bastard was but this story completely floored us," Knudsen and Van Hoy said in a written statement. "As filmmakers, we knew that this would make a great film and that Jarred Weisfeld would offer an actor a complicated and compelling character to play."
Joaquin Baca-Asay is directing an original screenplay by Brent Hoff. Oliver Simon and Daniel Bauer's K5 International is financing and handling worldwide sales.
Williams (above left) stars as Chalky White in HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," and played Omar Little in "The Wire."