Arthur Ashe biopic in development

Wimbledon champion and civil rights activist Arthur Ashe will be the subject of an upcoming biopic.

Hyde Park Entertainment Group and Warner Music Group will produce the film based on a screenplay by Academy Award winner Kevin Willmott, who co-wrote "BlacKkKlansman" and "Da 5 Bloods," according to Variety. The film will feature music from Aretha Franklin, Prince, Curtis Mayfield, and other artists from Ashe's era.

"Arthur's legacy reaches far beyond his greatness as a tennis player," Hyde Park CEO Ashok Amritraj said. "Always a gentleman; bold, graceful, and intellectual; while at the same time passionate in his fight against racial inequality and injustice, I am honored to bring Arthur's story to the screen."

A native of Richmond, Virginia, Ashe became the only black man to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. His victory at the 1968 US Open occurred during a tumultuous year that saw the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., anti-Vietnam protests, and the civil rights movement.

Ashe died from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1993 at the age of 49. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-U.S. President Bill Clinton that same year.