THE year-long search is over! English actor Kingsley Ben-Adir has been tipped to play “Reggae King” Bob Marley in an upcoming Paramount biopic, according to Deadline Hollywood.

The yet-to-be-titled flick will be directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, who is known for the Oscar-nominated King Richard. Rita Marley, widow of the reggae singer, as well as children Cedella and Ziggy Marley have been named as producers. Frank E Flowers is being credited as scriptwriter.

Like Marley, 35-year-old Ben-Adir has biracial parents. His mother is a black Trinidadian, while his father is a white Englishman.

The British actor came to prominence for his role as Malcolm X in the Regina King-directed One Night in Miami. He had a breakout role in Netflix‘s The OA and is also credited in the British crime drama Peaky Blinders. He also played President Barack Obama on Showtime’s The Comey Rule.

In a previous interview, the director indicated that the film will radiate from the 1976 assassination attempt on Marley at his 56 Hope Road base in St Andrew, the resulting exile in London and the recording of the album Exodus during that period.

“Our film starts in ’76 and really it’s about the making of Exodus,” Green told the online news outlet collider.com. “That would indeed be the perfect window to look at Bob Marley’s life, in a period where the artist is forced to reflect upon his roots and the international reach of his love message to humanity,” he continued.

On December 3, 1976, an assassination attempt was made on Marley’s life in which his chest was grazed and his arm was struck with a bullet. His wife Rita and Manager Don Taylor were also injured in the attack. Following this attack, Marley left Jamaica for London, where Exodus was recorded. The tracks on this album comprise Natural Mystic, So Much Things to Say, Guiltiness, The Heathen, the title song Exodus, Jamming, Waiting in Vain, Turn Your Lights Down Low, Three Little Birds, and the global anthem One Love/People Get Ready.

In 1999, Time magazine named Exodus the best album of the 20th century, while the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC) declared One Love as the Song of the Millennium. The American cable television station VH1 ranked Exodus as the 26th greatest album of all time, while in 2003, the album was ranked number 169 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time

Green also disclosed that he is working on the script with Zach Baylin, the writer with whom he collaborated on King Richard.

Marley died of cancer on May 11, 1981. He was 36.