Leonine Studios has released a first-look photo for its Milli Vanilli biopic “Girl You Know It’s True” which has kicked off production.
Simon Verhoeven is directing the pic, with Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann producing. It marks another collaboration of the successful trio that has teamed on four No. 1 German box office hits. Kirstin Winkler is overseeing production as executive producer.
Newcomers Tijan Njie and Elan Ben Ali are set to portray the lead roles of Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan, starring alongside “Army of the Dead” Matthias Schweighöfer as German music producer Frank Farian.
The film is focused on the true story of the notorious scandal involving dancers Robert Pilatus’ and Fabrice Morvan’s rise to fame in the late 1980s as pop sensation Milli Vanilli, orchestrated by music producer Frank Farian. They became global stars with three No.
1 hits, “Baby Don’t Forget My Number,” “Blame It on the Rain,” and “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” in the US. But only a small number of insiders know that the duo is not singing but lip-syncing to the voices of two other artists.
At the height of their fame, Milli Vanilli won the Grammy Award, but the situation behind the scenes escalated, then, when the truth was revealed, it became one of the biggest scandals in music history.
They ended up returning their Grammy Award for Best New Artist. They recorded a comeback album in 1998 titled Back and in Attack, but its release was cancelled after Pilatus died at the age of 32.
Production started in Munich, Berlin, Capetown and Los Angeles and is expected to wrap in December. The project will be shot almost entirely in English.