Not even a week after the Christmas Day passing of the Godfather of Soul, Spike Lee has signed on to direct a feature on his flamboyant life for Paramount and Imagine Entertainment.

There was a biography in the works, that spookily enough Brown was active in the making of, so basically Lee will pick up the drafted script (worked on by Jezz & John Henry Butterworth recently, but originally written by Steve Baigelman) and Spike-a-tize it! The rights to his life and music are already in the package deal.

Brian Grazer is producing the film which could be in production by late next year, though it’s rumored that 2008 is more likely. "Like everybody, I was surprised and saddened that James Brown died," Grazer said Tuesday. "Having known him well, and after spending lots of time with him and researching his life, it's somehow not surprising that he died on Christmas Day. He was the ultimate showman, all the way to the end."