Sony Pictures Thinks Miles Davis Biopic Is About an ‘Iconic Singer’

By Sameer Rao Aug 10, 2015

Hot off its debut as the closing film at the New York Film Festival, Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic "Miles Ahead" was picked up for distribution last week Sony Pictures Classic. As excited as Sony professed to be about acquiring the anticipated and acclaimed film, they seemed to misunderstand Davis’s actual contribution to music when they called him an "iconic singer" in their press release.

Indeed, according to Consequence of Sound, the studio’s press release from last week described the landmark trumpeter and composer as a singer in the following statement: 

“What Don Cheadle has done here with the spirit of Miles Davis is truly astounding. We are not only witnessing for the first time this part of Miles Davis’ story as it deserves to be told, but also the birth of a major film director who happens to portray the iconic singer in a jaw dropping performance.” 

Sony must have gotten hip to their mistake, since the latest version of the release instead reads "iconic musician." 

The film, which marks Cheadle’s directorial debut for a script he co-wrote, features the actor as Davis during a drug- and paranoia-fueled silent period. The film also stars Ewan McGregor as a Rolling Stone writer and Emayatzy Corinealdi as Frances Taylor, Davis’s first wife. 

(H/t Consequence of Sound