LOS ANGELES — Cable network HBO will produce and air filmmaker Steven Soderbergh’s “Behind the Candelabra,” a biopic starring Michael Douglas as the flamboyant pianist and entertainer, The Wrap reported Tuesday.
The film will also star Matt Damon as Scott Thorson, Liberace’s significantly younger longtime lover.
Executive producer Jerry Weintraub originally planned “Behind the Candelabra” as a theatrical release, but opted to release it through HBO Films after working with the network on the Liberace documentary “His Way.”
He said the feature is “a fun movie because Liberace is a fun guy — I knew him very, very well. But there’s a dark side as well. It’s very dark and it’s very light.”
He called it “a picture about a gay couple — in a time when gays did not come out of the closet.”
“Behind the Candelabra” will be Douglas’ first movie role since he was diagnosed with throat cancer in August 2010.
In a January interview with NBC’s “Today,” the 67-year-old actor said the tumor in his throat was gone after he underwent radiation therapy.