A movie about the life and career of Culture Club frontman Boy George is in the works at MGM. No cast is yet attached but the director, Sacha Gervasi – whose previous subjects include Alfred Hitchcock and heavy metal band Anvil – is set to write and direct.

The film will trace the singer’s life from his childhood in Woolwich, south-east London, with his Irish parents and four siblings, to his rise during the New Romantic era of pop in London, aided and dressed by Malcolm McLaren.

As part of the pop group Culture Club, George was a chart fixture during the 1980s, with hits such as Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? and Karma Chameleon. His solo pop career continued in the 1990s, and he also performed in the West End in musical Taboo. More recently he has featured on TV shows such as The Voice.

George became famous for his sense of style and androgyny, as well as an ambivalence towards sex – he once declared he’d prefer a cup of tea.

George was a heroin addict for many years, was arrested for cocaine possession in 2005, and three years later served four months in prison for the assault and false imprisonment of a male escort.

In 2010, George was played by the actor Douglas Booth in the TV drama Worried About the Boy. More recently, many people have been struck by the visual similarity between the singer and the Game of Thrones character Sansa Stark.

MGM is also developing an Aretha Franklin biopic, starring Jennifer Hudson. Last week saw the release in the UK of Elton John-authorised movie Rocketman, which made £5.4m in its first five days. This is some distance behind the opening weekend numbers for Bohemian Rhapsody, which has so far taken more than $800m globally – as well as winning four Oscars, including one for Freddie Mercury actor Rami Malek.