Ever since the smash success of the Ray Charles and Johnny Cash biopics, Hollywood has been scrambling to make more, with films about Miles Davis, Nina Simone, and Jimi Hendrix all serving as fodder for the rumor mill.

Now it looks as if a long-rumored biopic about Marvin Gaye will begin shooting in April, and Martin Scorsese has stepped up to direct a documentary about Bob Marley, on the heels of Shine a Light, his concert doc about the Rolling Stones.

The Gaye biopic will be shot on location in Hungary and Germany in April. The film, Sexual Healing, will be directed by Lauren Goodman, who also wrote the screenplay.

Jesse L. Martin, who starred in the big-screen version of Rent and played Tom Collins on Broadway, will play Gaye. He is best known as Detective Ed Green from TV's Law & Order.

The film will focus primarily on the final three years of the Motown legend's life, when he emigrated to Europe in 1981 after years of tax problems, battles with his record label, and alleged drug addiction. Gaye's move to Europe sparked a comeback with the 1982 album Midnight Love, but he then fell into depression and moved into his parents' home in Washington, D.C.

Gaye and his father, Marvin Sr., reportedly got into a series of heated arguments, the last of which, on April 1, 1984, ended with Gaye being shot and killed by his father, on April 1, 1984, one day before his 45th birthday.

While Gaye's life will get the feature-film treatment, Scorsese has decided to take on the life of the iconic Marley in a documentary format. Scorsese has received the Marley family's blessing to make the as-yet-untitled documentary.

"I am thrilled that the Marley family will finally have the opportunity to document our father's legacy and are truly honored to have Mr. Scorsese guide the journey," Ziggy Marley told Variety.

The documentary is scheduled for release on Feb. 6, 2010, on what would have been Marley's 65th birthday.