Don Cheadle to star in Miles Davis biopic

Cindy Clark | USA TODAY

Don Cheadle is taking on the role of jazz pioneer Miles Davis in a new film.

Ewan McGregor and Zoe Saldana will also star in Kill the Trumpet Player, BiFrost Pictures has announced. The film will tell the story of a few dangerous days in the life of Miles Davis as he bursts out of his silent period and conspires with a Rolling Stone writer (McGregor) to steal back his music.

Cheadle will also make his feature directorial debut from a script co-written with Steven Baigelman.

"Don is one of our generation's greatest actors, and this is the role he was born to play," says BiFrost principal Daniel Wagner in a statement. "His take on the conventional biopic of one of music's most celebrated icons is cinematic 'jazz' and too unique to resist. It fits naturally with BiFrost's commitment to support talent and their passion projects, so we are thrilled to work with Don on his feature directorial debut."