We noted back in April that Welcome to the Rileys director Jake Scott was set to direct a biopic of musician Jeff Buckley – a young talent with a haunting, soaring voice who died tragically young while swimming in the Mississippi River. The great challenge, of course, would be finding an actor who could take on the appearance of Buckley as well as the intensity that the role demanded. It looks like that challenge has been accepted.

According to a press release, Reeve Carney will go from playing Peter Parker on Broadway for “Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark” to strapping on an acoustic for what’s still known as the Untitled Jeff Buckley Film.

Buckley had his music featured in several films, including The Messenger, Lord of War, and Vanilla Sky although it seems safe to say that he’s most famous for his soul-shaking version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” As for his story, it’s a compelling one that sees him rise through the music scene as a bit of an eccentric, and the production will be aided by a large amount of information they’ve bought rights to through the singer’s family.

It’s a compelling story, and it will be interesting to see if Carney, whose biggest role to date was in Julie Taymor’s The Tempest, has what it takes to breath life into such a noteworthy artist.