Steve McQueen biopic in the works

For die-hards, this news will come as a pleasant surprise. Others will surely be put off. Still, some—probably most—won't know what to think until more information is known. A picture about the life of Steven McQueen, rightfully known as the "King of Cool," is in the works, according to Variety.

Producers Michael Cerenzie (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) and Christine Peters (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) won the rights to Marshall Terrill's '93 McQueen biography, Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel. Barbara Minty, McQueen's widow, has also given her blessing. A director, reportedly, is close to signing on.

Although anyone else has yet to sign on to the project, Ain't It Cool News poses the question everyone will be asking: Who on this earth embodies the cool seen in The Great Escape, where the star so effortlessly and naturally flees from the Nazis on that motorcycle? (Even him repeatedly throwing the baseball against the floor and wall of his cell at the beginning and end of the film is something to envy.) Or, that super-smooth detective in Bullitt who engages in one of the wildest car chases ever caught on film? That unnerving, ice-cold stare that could shake any villain? In other words, who will/can play Steve McQueen?

While he may have lacked the sudden-death mystique of three-film-wonder James Dean, McQueen (who died at age 50 of lung cancer in 1980) is and always will be known as the King of Cool. The nickname reportedly came from his "Cooler King" tag in The Great Escape, the cooler referring to his prison after each time he attempted escape from POW camp.

Related links:
Steve McQueen on IMDb
SteveMcQueen.com
YouTube: The chase scene in The Great Escape

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