Rooker agrees to re-shoot jazz biopic 'Bolden'

"Guardians of the Galaxy" co-star Michael Rooker is back on board for a seven-year production about New Orleans jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden.

No recordings of Bolden's innovative work survived the cornet player, who was very much a legend in jazz circles and performed with his then-atypical Bolden Band through the late 1890s and early 1900s. A film about the musician's rise and demise has become a passion project for director Dan Pritzker.

Billionaire musician and filmmaker Pritzker started "Bolden" back in 2007 with Anthony Mackie as the jazz great.

But Mackie, who has since appeared in "The Hurt Locker" and "The Adjustment Bureau" and as Falcon in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," withrew as his increasingly busy calendar led to scheduling conflicts.

Instead, Gary Carr of "Downton Abbey" has the lead role, with another Brit in Ian McShane ("Deadwood") now holding down the part of rival musician Judge Perry and Nelsan Ellis ("True Blood") the new Bolden Band manager.

That makes Rooker a rare lead to reprise his role as Perry associate Pat McMurphy for Pritzker's reshoot, reports Deadline, with shooting to get underway this fall.

Since "Bolden" first got underway, Rooker has appeared in not only "Guardians of the Galaxy" but also "The Lena Baker Story," "Super" and "The Walking Dead."

Rooker had also played the same part of Pat McMurphy in "Louis," Pritzker's 2010 film following the early years of Louis Armstrong.