Steven Spielberg has made just about every kind of genre film under the sun and is now prepped to try his hand at yet another - the musical biopic.

A film detailing the rise to fame of The Runaways hit theaters earlier this year and now another musical group whose popularity peaked in the 1970s, The Bee Gees, will see their story brought to life on the big screen - courtesy of Spielberg.

The Bee Gees was composed of British-born twins Maurice and Robin Gibbs, along with their older brother Barry. They began their musical careers performing soft rock back in the 1960s. It wasn't until the next decade that the group transitioned into performing disco music and hit it big with songs like "Stayin' Alive", "Night Fever", and "More Than A Woman", which helped the Bee Gees sell more than 200 million records over the course of their career.

Surviving members Robin and Barry will be involved "in the technical side" of Spielberg's Bee Gees movie, which presumably will feature the legendary filmmaker in the director's chair. The distinctive nature of the group's three-part harmonies will likely force Spielberg and his crew to use the group's original recording in their film - much like Taylor Hackford chose to stick with Ray Charles' original vocals for his own musical biopic, Ray.

The Bee Gees musical group movie Steven Spielberg

Spielberg currently has two projects in some form of production - The Aventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and War Horse - so, assuming he intends to direct this musical biopic, filming on the Bee Gees movie wouldn't likely begin for awhile. There's no word yet on who will be scripting the film, but considering Spielberg's involvement, it will likely be a reputable screenwriter.

Period pieces are in many ways Spielberg's specialty (well, that and blockbusters, obviously) and his Bee Gees movie will without doubt be an authentic representation of the 1960s and 70s setting. The more pressing concern for now is whether Spielberg can deliver a biopic about a band's "rise to fame" that avoids being as conventional and formulaic as most films of that ilk tend to be.

Source: The Mail