Notable music biopics and documentaries

James Brown (pictured) left big shoes and flashy suits for Chadwick Boseman to fill. Boseman, who made a splash as Jackie Robinson in “42,” portrays Brown in this film exploring the musician’s rise from poverty to stardom. The movie, released in 2014, was in the works before the famously combative singer died in 2006. Domestic gross: $30,703,100.  (Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images)

Rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix is portrayed on the big screen by Andre Benjamin (pictured), a.k.a. Andre 3000 from the hip-hop duo Outkast. Domestic gross: $340,911.   (Patrick Redmond / Associated Press)

Carl Franklin has replaced John Singleton as the director of “Tupac,” the long-gestating biopic about the late rapper Tupac Shakur (pictured).   (Perry C. Riddle / Los Angeles Times)