Serkis confirms Ian Dury biopic

Lord Of The Rings actor Andy Serkis has confirmed that he is working on a biopic about Ian Dury.

Serkis told Cinema Blend that he begins shooting the project about the punk singer in April.

"I'm actually doing a film about the life of Ian Dury, who's a proto-punk rocker in the 1970s," he said. "He's an amazing character, a real poet."

He added: "He sort of came up out of the British pub rock scene. He sort of pre-empted the Sex Pistols and the whole punk movement. And he was a polio sufferer, so he basically didn't have much use of his left leg or his left arm. He was one of the first disabled punk rockers ever. I'm really looking forward to that."

Dury released 12 studio albums during his career, including five with The Blockheads, which featured the hits 'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll', 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' and 'Sweet Gene Vincent'. He died in March 2000, aged 57.

Serkis is also scheduled to reprise his role as Gollum in The Hobbit and is cast as Captain Haddock in the forthcoming TinTin movie.