Hollywood laps up Paul Potts’s tale

Click for a complete Paul Potts Article from ICWales 

REAL-LIFE stories have been made into Hollywood movies for years – from Sheffield steelworkers-turned-strippers in The Full Monty to WI members-turned-nude models in Calendar Girls.

Now the story of how Paul Potts has risen from a mobile phone salesman from Wales to a world-famous tenor is to follow suit.

And it will be produced by Simon Cowell, the man who helped the nation “discover” the reluctant star on his ITV series Britain’s Got Talent.

But Western Mail film critic Gary Slaymaker is uncertain a film about Potts’s life would be a success, despite the fact that the singer’s debut album, One Chance, has sold three million copies so far and this year he is headlining 65 concerts in 13 countries.

“It doesn’t surprise me that someone wants to turn the Paul Potts story into a Hollywood film,” he said. “He has already appeared on every TV chat show in the States and has been a huge feel-good story in America.

“But you know that such a film is going to be really cheesy and the Hollywood image of Wales will probably feature Cockneys, apples and pears.

“The fact the film’s being considered shows a complete lack of ideas within the film industry.

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