Two months after shopping his latest project, Chrome and Paint, Ice Cube is in negotiations with Disney for financing and distribution of the film.

Using elements of Saturday Night Fever and American Graffiti, Chrome is a gritty Boyz N' The Hood–style drama that Cube co-wrote. It focuses on the custom-car scene of South Central Los Angeles. He uses the subculture of tricked-out Mercedes, BMW, and Low Rider cars to frame a drama about the temptation to place materialism above love and loyalty. Cube will both star in and direct the film.

Disney’s interest in Chrome came out of a meeting with the hip hop icon. Louanne Brickhouse, a Disney exec and car enthusiast, took an interest in the project, as did production president Sean Bailey.

To gear the film toward a Disney audience, Cube will shoot Chrome as a PG-13 film, even though he originally co-wrote it (with Eva Vives) as an R-rated feature. The plan is to shoot by the end of summer after rewrites are completed. Cube, who recently wrapped the Oren Moverman-directed Rampart, is also starring in 21 Jump Street (with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) for Sony Pictures. He is currently touring to promote his latest album, I Am The West. And his Cube Vision production company is producing Straight Outta Compton, a film about the pioneering rap group N.W.A.

(Photo:  Brad Barket/PictureGroup)