Ron Howard developing Louis Armstrong documentary

Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is turning his attention to jazz legend Louis Armstrong after releasing documentaries focused on Luciano Pavarotti and the Beatles.
The director and his business partner Brian Grazer have snapped up the rights to a new film about the What a Wonderful World musician’s life through their Imagine Documentaries company.
The pair has teamed with the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation to create the film after landing access to hundreds of hours of audio recordings, film footage, photographs, and personal diaries, according to Deadline.
Part of the treasure trove of material includes Armstrong’s daily audio diaries, which he kept from the early 1950s until the day he died in 1971.
“This is a perfect time to remind the world of the power, depth and beauty in Louis Armstrong’s music and story, especially as we celebrate 50 years of Armstrong’s generosity in establishing the Foundation,” said Stanley Crouch, President of The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.
“He was born in poverty in one of the roughest neighbourhoods in New Orleans, Louisiana. Absorbing the multilayered music and culture of that fascinating place and time, he went on to heal and educate the country and world with the depth of his playing, singing and undying belief in the value of our common humanity.”