Chadwick Boseman As James Brown: First Look At 'Get On Up'

That's 42 star Chadwick Boseman above, and below you'll see Boseman as James Brown in the first shot from the Brown biopic Get on Up. The film also stars Dan Aykroyd as Ben Bart, who presided over Brown's agency Universal Attractions. The film, which spans much of the singer's life, also features  Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Lennie James.

Check out the shot below, and get a bit of new info about the movie courtesy of director Tate Taylor.

Taylor, who also directed The Help, told USAToday that this isn't a straight biopic, despite the fact that it will tell Brown's story from childhood through a 1993 comeback concert that followed his release from prison. (Brown had gone to the pen after evading police in a car chase that spanned two states.) "It's all who he is," the director says, "but we're going to put it on shuffle instead of play."

More interesting is the fact that Boseman's Brown will break the fourth wall. Taylor says of the decision to have the character speak directly to the audience was a means to allow the singer's controlling personality to leap off screen. "I told everybody, 'Look, James was a control freak, and even though he's not with us, there's no way he wouldn't be a part of his movie.".