Dave Franco Will Play Vanilla Ice In A New Biopic
30 years after “Ice Ice Baby,” Vanilla Ice is getting the biopic treatment with Dave Franco at the lead
If you know us, you know that we love us a good biopic. From the ridiculous — like Joe Exotic of Tiger King fame — to the heartfelt — like Jennifer Hudson playing the legend, Aretha Franklin — there’s just something about the real-life stories of larger-than-life celebs that makes for some truly top tier entertainment. And hot on the heels of his decision to cancel a 4th of July concert in Texas amid surging coronavirus cases, Vanilla Ice is apparently next up for the biopic treatment — played by Dave Franco, which we’re very here for.
This project has actually been in the works since 2018. But Franco just recently opened up about it in an interview with Insider, and told us more about the Vanilla Ice movie, “To the Extreme,” which he says is due to start pre-production any day now.
In the interview, Franco, who is well known for playing Tommy Wiseau in another recent biopic, The Disaster Artist, told fans to expect a similar treatment for Vanilla Ice. This isn’t a hit piece, or a movie meant to make fun of a celeb who has had a little bit of a ridiculous career, he said.
“With [The Disaster Artist], people expected us to make a broad comedy where we make fun of Tommy Wiseau, but the more real we played it, the funnier and heartfelt it was—that’s the tone we want for this one as well,” Franco explained.
The script, written by Chris Goodwin and Phillip Van, will follow Vanilla Ice from being “a high school dropout selling used cars in Dallas to having the first hip hop single to top the Billboard charts,” and explore his struggles with “stardom, extortion attempts, and selling out.” We never even knew there was so much drama behind “Ice Ice Baby,” but we are more than ready to see this movie and find out all about it.
In preparation for the role, Franco said he’s been spending time with the man himself, Vanilla Ice, whose real name is Rob Van Winkle.
“Rob is such a sweet and intelligent guy and he’s been super helpful in the process of getting all the details correct and making us privy to information the public doesn’t know,” Franco said. “Just talking to him I can’t help but think about the rabbit holes I’m going to go down to get ready for the role.”
And we’re more than ready to go down that rabbit hole while we watch it.
