JACKSON — The Mississippi native who directed the “The Help” is on track to make another feature film in the state, this one a biographical movie about the late singer James Brown.
Natchez Mayor Butch Brown confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday that he and others in the city have been helping director Tate Taylor find locations in and around Natchez. The mayor says filming is set to take place in October.
Mississippi officials said only that Taylor and Gov. Phil Bryant will announce a movie project Monday in Jackson. They would not release any details.
Rolling Stone magazine reported in January that Taylor had been hired to direct a movie about Brown, who died in 2006. Known as “the hardest working man in show business” and as the “Godfather of Soul,” Brown was born in South Carolina.
Taylor, who grew up in Jackson, now has a home near Natchez.
Butch Brown said he met with Taylor in June or July about making the movie in Natchez, a Mississippi River town known for a wide range of architecture styles, from antebellum mansions to modest shotgun houses.
“He’s had his location people here two or three times,” Brown said.
Taylor directed “The Help,” which was released in 2011. It was based on a novel by his childhood friend, Kathryn Stockett, and the film was shot in several Mississippi locations, including Greenwood and Jackson.
Mississippi lawmakers earlier this year increased the incentives that the state offers to movie makers. The new law, signed by Bryant, says the state could provide rebates of up to $10 million per project for nationally distributed feature films, documentaries and TV shows. It was not immediately clear Friday whether the state would provide incentives for the James Brown movie.
Mississippi approved incentives for 23 film projects in 2012 and about 20 projects so far in 2013, though not all of the projects that were approved have been made.
One movie shot in Mississippi last year, “As I Lay Dying,” was based on a William Faulkner novel. James Franco directed and stars in the movie, which is set for release in September.
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