All My Life: The K-Ci and JoJo Story

Starring:

Cuba Gooding Jr. as Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey

Anthony Mackie as Joel “JoJo” Hailey

Viola Davis as Martha Hailey

Vivica A. Fox as Denise (Betts) Hailey

and

Usher as Smokey Robinson

Estimated Budget: $14,000,000

Estimated Box Office: $50,000,000 Domestic, $10,000,000 International

Plot Synopsis:

On September 2nd, 1969 Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey (Cuba Gooding Jr.) was born in Monroe, North Carolina.

On June 10^th, 1971 his brother Joel “JoJo” Hailey (Anthony Mackie) joined him.

Over the next 30 years, the two brothers would form the R&B Group K-C & JoJo and redefine the popular music landscape in America while setting the course for everyone who came after them.

But the dizzying fame and success, a natural off-shoot of the genius that seemed to emanate from the brothers’ every pore, ultimately took its toll on the two men in ways they could never have predicted.

“All My Life” is the true story of the fame, the fights, the highs, the lows, the accolades, the shame, and most importantly, the music, of K-Ci & JoJo.

—

Starting with the boy’s time as the group Jodeci and moving through their earliest mainstream success singing back-up vocals on 2Pac’s ‘How Do U Want It’, the first stages of the transcendent career that lay ahead for K-Ci & JoJo are meticulously charted:

– We observe the magic when JoJo first attempts to harmonize with his brother (on a Motown song To Be Determined) while they clean dishes at the dive bar that pays them $3 an hour.

– As the two brothers work their way through a series of low-rent gigs at dangerous clubs (first full-song performance seen during a montage of gigs), we see the bond between them grow stronger.

– The group’s genre-shattering songwriting begins to take shape when we witness K-Ci sit at the piano for the first time to play his brother a new song he’s been working on (which turns out to be the eventual hit single “Crazy”).

But even in these early scenes, we notice a darkness underneath: The way JoJo insists on getting credit for his contributions to K-Ci’s earliest songs; K-Ci pounding shot after shot of Hennessey right before a show; The competitiveness between the two brothers when a pretty girl walks in the bar…And more.

Then comes the moment that changes everything:

As K-Ci watches his daughter sleep one night, he begins composing the song that becomes “All My Life”. The next morning JoJo comes over and in the second full performance of the movie, we watch gloriously as the two men sing the completed ballad together and finally truly become K-Ci & JoJo.

What follows is a montage of the boys’ rise to the top. We see them play increasingly larger shows and watch (in an animated sequence that sees “All My Life” going from 100 to 73 to 30 to 7 to Number 1 on the Billboard Charts) each new song they release dominate popular music and the mood of the entire country.

But the fame and fortune also shines a brighter light on the group’s issues:

JoJo becomes increasingly resentful of the perception of K-Ci as “genius” and “leader” of the group, while K-Ci seems to only be interested in whatever questions are answered at the bottom of a bottle. Soon, both men have moved from drinking and jealousy to hard drugs. Like cocaine. The fights between them are more intense and emotionally brutal than ever.

The low point in the career of K-Ci and JoJo comes in 2009 when JoJo passes out onstage mid-song during the group’s reunion tour and K-Ci continues on finishing the song.

From that moment, the story of K-Ci and JoJo becomes one of redemption, family, life, passion and the universal things we to do pick ourselves up when we’re down.

With emotions running high, the final act of “All My Life” represents only the first-act in the reintroduction of K-Ci and JoJo as legends of R&B and Pop Music to a world that badly needs them…

Exclusive Scene From The Script: