Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson to Star in Film of Neil Diamond Tribute Act

For his next trick, the Greatest Showman will impersonate a Neil Diamond impersonator. Variety reports that production has begun on Song Sung Blue, a biopic about a Diamond tribute band starring Hugh Jackman. Kate Hudson will portray the singer’s wife. Michael Imperioli, Fisher Stevens, Jim Belushi, King Princess, Ella Anderson, Mustafa Shakir, and others are also in the cast.

Filmmaker Craig Brewer, who directed Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan, is helming the production, which will be a musical drama. It’s based on a 2008 documentary, also titled Song Sung Blue — after Diamond’s like-titled 1972 hit — about Mike and Claire Sardina, a Milwaukee couple that who rose above hard times using the name singing Diamond’s songs under the name Lighting & Thunder. Mike went by “Lightning” and Clare by “Thunder,” whose specialty is Patsy Cline songs. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder made a cameo in the doc, introducing the couple. Documentarian Greg Kohs directed the clip and is an executive producer on Brewer’s film.

Since the Jackman film is still in production, there isn’t any footage yet. However, several promo clips from Kohs’ film are available online. The trailer shows Lightning looking at LP sleeves, discussing how he came up with his look and a shot of him sitting next to his wife, saying, “I wish I could sing as good as she looks.” Their life takes a tragic turn, however, when Thunder is injured after a car hit her in her yard while gardening. There’s also a lot of great shots of the couple performing.

The real Neil, who retired from touring in 2018 to manage Parkinson’s disease, is quoted in the trailer as saying, “I’m honored to have my songs be part of this love story.”

If you can’t wait to hear Jackman sing, he’ll be hosting a musical revue at New York’s Radio City Music Hall next year. The actor, who’s probably most popularly known for playing Wolverine in Marvel’s movies, will sing songs from The Boy From Oz, The Greatest Showman, and The Music Man. Maybe he’ll throw in a round of “Sweet Caroline,” too.

Hudson released her debut album, Glorious, earlier this year. Rolling Stone described the record as “one of the year’s most pleasant musical surprises, a thoroughly grown-up and strikingly assured collection of guitar-heavy songs that tend to land somewhere between Adele and Sheryl Crow.”