Marvin Gaye biopic shoot pauses for two weeks

Shooting has been suspended on Julien Temple’s Marvin Gaye biopic, Sexual Healing (sold internationally by Focus Features and starring Jesse L. Martin as soul superstar Gaye.)

Sources close to the production are insisting that the unexpected delay will not affect the sales drive in Cannes, where the film is being launched to buyers.

“I am not aware of there being any issues with the financing of the movie,” said Alison Thompson, Co-President Focus Features International.

The film looks at ex-Motown superstar Gaye’s years in Belgium – the time he spent living in the sleepy seaside town of Ostend in the early 1980s. Facing drug problems and tax bills, Gaye was considered a spent force but, against the odds, he then recorded Midnight Love, one of his greatest albums.

“We have suspended the shoot for 2 weeks due to unavailability of certain locations, which has lead us to unavailability of certain cast members and vice versa,” stated producer Jimmy de Brabant of Luxembourg-based DeLux Productions. “We have completed 70% of the shoot and are extremely happy with what we are seeing.”

De Brabant added that Focus Features “are presenting the film in Cannes with a great promo reel.”

The delays are understood to have been caused by the lack of access to key venues in Ostend, among them the concert hall and the basketball arena.

Thompson said that production is expected to resume in early June.

“We are rushing to put together a promo for Cannes based on the footage we have got so far,” Thompson said.

Shooting began in the spring in Luxembourg and Belgium. Brendan Gleeson plays Gaye’s friend and promoter, Freddy Cousaert.

The film is expected to be ready for delivery by spring 2014.