James Dean biopic based on romance memoir in the works

A biopic based on ‘Surviving James Dean’ is in the works.

The movie - which will adapt late author William Bast’s 2006 book, which alleged he had a love affair with the Hollywood icon at the University of California, Los Angeles - will be written and directed by Guy Guido, after the filmmaker acquired the rights to the memoir.

Guido told The Hollywood Reporter: “I have been a fan and historian of James Dean since I was 18 years old, so I knew about his ‘friend’ Willie, even when information about their relationship was straight-washed by the Hollywood machine.

“As a filmmaker, I love telling the story of a celebrity’s life in their coming-of-age period. As a gay man, I was particularly drawn to Bast’s unique story.”

In the book, Bast - who died in 2015 at the age of 84 - claimed he and Dean become roommates, close friends and eventually lovers during their time at the UCLA’s theatre programme when the pair were 19.

The author - who also wrote ‘James Dean: A Biography’ in 1956 - claimed the fling was kept private in an effort to protect the actor’s flourishing Hollywood career, though Bast hoped he could reunite with his supposed forbidden lover one day.

However, the writer’s dream of a relationship with Dean was cruelly taken away from him when the ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ star died in a car accident at the age of 24 in 1955.

Casting on the upcoming film has started, and Guido has stressed he wants to sign an actor who can make audiences “feel as if they are watching the real James Dean on the screen”.

He said: “I am obsessed with getting the look right when it comes to casting and directing a film about a famous person.

“I want people to feel as if they are watching the real James Dean on the screen.”

The ‘Madonna and the Breakfast Club’ director is also searching for a studio to finance the project and feels hopeful he can find the “right team” to collaborate with him on the movie.

He said: “I want to find just the right team to partner with.

“Producers that understand the gravity and importance of a story like this, especially in today’s divided social climate.”