EXCLUSIVE: In November 2023, we told you about The Most Beautiful, a Prince biopic in development at Crazy Legs Features, based on the New York Times bestselling memoir from the musical icon’s first wife, Mayte Garcia. And now, the project has a writer in Melis Aker, we’ve learned.
Published in 2017, Garcia’s memoir offers an intimate portrait of her journey as a dancer, collaborator, friend, and wife to Prince. Aker’s adaptation will center Garcia’s voice, illuminating a love story shaped by creativity, vulnerability, and the private heartbreaks behind the public legend.
Tom Cappello, Scott Thigpen, and George Scarles are producing for Crazy Legs, alongside Marie Halliday of Curious Witch Films. Gilbert Davison, former Director of Security, Manager and President of Paisley Park, is newly aboard the project as associate producer.
In a statement on her hiring, Aker told us, “I am beyond honored to be entrusted with Mayte’s story and to collaborate with George, Marie, Gilbert, and the entire Crazy Legs team. Her voice as an artist, dancer, friend, and dearly beloved of Prince is luminous and raw. The memoir is a stunning portrait of joy, loss, and self-discovery, and I’m committed to bringing it to life with the honesty and tenderness it deserves.”
Crazy CEO Cappello told us, “Working alongside Melis and Mayte on this adaptation has been an extraordinary experience. Mayte’s memoir is both intimate and profound, and Melis has a singular gift for honoring the truth of her voice while shaping it into a cinematic story. Together, they’re bringing to the screen a love story as unconventional and groundbreaking as the artistry it was born from.”
Garcia added, “I’m honored to have Melis as the screenwriter for The Most Beautiful. From our first meeting, her dedication to every detail gave me confidence that my story will be translated to the screen with care and integrity.”
A London-and New York–based playwright/screenwriter, actor, and musician, Aker’s plays have been developed and presented at Signature Theatre Company in New York, Theatre503, The Old Vic, Ars Nova and PlayCo, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. She has received commissions from Signature, Atlantic Theatre Company, and La Jolla Playhouse, and has been awarded the American Theatre Wing’s Jonathan Larson Grant, named on the Kilroy’s List, and recognized as a Woman to Watch by the Broadway Women’s Fund. Her short play Scraps and Things was recorded for Playing on Air starring Carol Kane, where she was also co-star and composer.
Aker’s short film Baba in Graceland was developed with support from the Sundance Institute’s Interdisciplinary Grant. Her feature screenplay Bee was accepted by Maison des Scénaristes at Cannes, IFP, and the Berlinale Script Market. Currently developing an immersive game project with Sinan Eczacıbaşı of Curious Gremlin, she is represented by CAA and Curate.
Crazy Legs Features is a division of Crazy Legs Productions, an Atlanta-based full-service content creator best known for its work on reality series like 1000-lb Sisters and Cutler’s Court. Most recently, they produced The Great Lillian Hall, an HBO TV movie starring Jessica Lange, Pierce Brosnan, and Kathy Bates, which brought the latter a SAG Award nomination for her performance.
The post Crazy Legs Features Enlists Melis Aker To Pen Prince Biopic ‘The Most Beautiful’ Based On Mayte Garcia Memoir appeared first on Deadline.
