Justin Timberlake and Zac Efron vying for Memphis lead

Brad Sturdivant August 21st, 2010

Looks like the Broadway musical ‘Memphis’ is becoming a bit of a hot commodity in Hollywood these days. The Tony award-winning film has attracted the attention of both Zac Efron and Justin Timberlake, along with director Oliver Stone. Although everything is pure speculation at this point, all three stars have been spotted multiple times attending the show and Stone has reportedly met with some of the writers. Note: one of the writers is David Bryan, who you might know as a keyboardist for Bon Jovi. Joe DiPietro is the other writer.

MEMPHIS tells the story of DJ Dewey Phillips, who was one of the first white DJ’s to play black music in the 1950’s. “Daddy-O” Dewey was a “speed crazed hillbilly” on the radio with a booming personality. He’s famous for a lot of things, but was one of the first DJ’s to play Elvis’s debut record. Dewey was not all fun and games and once the free form DJ style went away, Dewey did odd jobs and always struggled with alcohol and drugs. He died at the age of 42.

Justin Timberlake and Zac Efron