Colman Domingo’s long-gestating Nat King Cole musical biopic is officially gaining momentum.
Lionsgate has boarded Unforgettable for international sales and is set to launch the project ahead of next week’s European Film Market in Berlin, where it’s expected to be a strong pre-sales title, according to Deadline.
The update follows our 2024 reporting that Colman Domingo would star in, co-write, and direct the film — which will mark his feature directorial debut. Now, in 2026, the project is moving closer to production, with plans to begin filming later this year.
Domingo, a two-time Oscar nominee for Rustin and Sing Sing, will portray legendary singer and pianist Nat King Cole, while also producing the film. He co-wrote the script with Vernon Scott. The project is being pitched in the PG-13 range, signaling an intention for broad, multi-generational appeal.
Unforgettable will chart Cole’s journey as both a trailblazing artist and a “quiet revolutionary,” exploring how he navigated racial injustice, Hollywood sabotage, and personal self-doubt while securing a legacy that helped open doors for future generations of Black artists and entertainers.
Born Nathaniel Adams Coles (1919–1965), Nat King Cole achieved mainstream success with a catalog that included more than 100 charting songs, among them “Unforgettable,” “Smile,” and “Let There Be Love.” His 1960 album The Magic of Christmas became the best-selling Christmas album of the decade. Despite his popularity, Cole faced relentless racial discrimination, including a violent onstage attack in Alabama in 1956.
Rather than retreat, Cole became increasingly outspoken. He boycotted segregated venues, joined the NAACP as a lifetime member, participated in the March on Washington, and made television history as the first Black American to host a nationally broadcast variety series with The Nat King Cole Show on NBC.
The producing team includes Cassian Elwes, Charles D. King, William Rosenfeld, Poppy Hanks, Jimmy Edwards, Veronica Radaelli, and Fred Berger, who recently produced the Oscar-nominated Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. Edwards serves as President of Iconic Artists Group, which acquired key rights from the Nat King Cole estate in 2022.
While Domingo had previously been attached to make his directorial debut on Scandalous, centered on Sammy Davis Jr. and Kim Novak, according to World of Reels, that project has been postponed, with Unforgettable now set to mark his first feature behind the camera.
The film arrives amid an especially busy year for Domingo. In April, he appears in Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic Michael and returns for Season 3 of Euphoria. In June, he will co-star alongside Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor in Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day.
With Lionsgate’s backing and EFM buzz building, Unforgettable represents a major next step in Domingo’s evolution — not just as an actor, but as a filmmaker shaping how cultural legacies are brought to the screen.