Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic on Netflix

Los Angeles: Bradley Cooper’s next directorial, a film based on the life of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein, has shifted its base from Paramount to streamer Netflix.

According to Deadline, the rights for the film, which Cooper will direct and star in, has been been acquired by the streamer.

The 45-year-old actor has also penned the film’s script in collaboration with Josh Singer, the Academy Award-winning scribe of “Spotlight”.

The project will be produced by veteran filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese in addition to Cooper, Todd Philips, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger.

The movie will chronicle 30 years of Bernstein’s life who rose to fame after he was tasked with conducting the New York Philharmonic when he was 25. His career skyrocketed when he wrote and composed the music for the iconic film “West Side Story”.

It is being described as a “beautifully complex story of the marriage between Bernstein and his wife, Felicia Montealegre”.

At one point, the film was set to be directed by Scorsese, who most recently collaborated with Netflix on his gangster epic “The Irishman”. The director, however, later made way for Cooper to helm the project.

The film also assumes significance as Spielberg, a longtime detractor of Netflix, will produce it through his banner Amblin.

The project, which is expected to begin production early next year, will be theatrically distributed by the streamer so as to enable it for awards seasons.